The Witch
by Rose and Psyche
Summary: The sequel to The Wardrobe. In which the children do a great deal of learning in a very short amount of time under the guidance, direction and protection of the King and Queen of Archenland. No romance except between Mr. and Mrs. King Lune. Book-verse AU.
1. Rock of Ages

**A/N: This story will not make much sense without having read the prequel, _The Wardrobe. _**If this is the first time you are reading this, please feel free to review, good or bad. I'd love to have your input.****

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><p>At the Back of the Wardrobe<p>

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><p>Book Two:<p>

_The Witch_

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><p>"But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." ~Romans 8:20<p>

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><p>Rock of Ages<p>

Let Me Hide in Thee

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><p>"Treve!" Treve's mother gasped.<p>

"I'm home mum!" Treve hollered, "Gee, I'm sorry for disobeying, Shard says you ought to thrash me! He also says I'm a hero and the others are waiting outside. Martin says he wants to talk to you and dad about something!"

"But your father's out looking for you," Treve's mother said as she followed him out of the den, Coppell after her.

"Here she is!" Treve called.

"We return your son to you," Equus said, "We had no knowledge of his coming until he saved our lives."

"He has proven himself as untrustworthy, but even so we wondered if you would consent to letting him come with us to Cair Anvard and serve as a page," Martin said.

Both Treve and his mother stood staring at Martin with awe.

"But his education…" Treve's mother began.

"He will be educated," Flavis, said, "I will see to it myself."

"Well I…well I can't make any decisions until my husband comes…" Treve's mother said, "but I'm sure he would agree…the opportunity!"

"Why don't I ever get to do the exciting things?" Coppell asked, peeking around her mother.

It was at that moment that Treve's father came galloping into the clearing. Treve's mother ran to meet him, calling information the whole way.

"What's this?" Treve father walked over to them, "you young scallywag Treve! You ought to be skinned alive, but I'm too happy to see you."

"A page!" Treve hollered, "They want me to be a page!"

"A page!" Treve's father exclaimed, "Why'd you bother asking? Of course he can go!"

Then he caught sight of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy.

"Who are these people?" he asked.

"These are the saviors of Narnia!" Flavis said, "the four from the prophecy!"

"Your majesties!" Treve's father bowed low, "I am at your command."

"Why are they wearing such funny clothes?" Coppell whispered to Treve.

"I don't know," he answered, "they said they were from another world!"

"Oh, ridiculous!" Coppell exclaimed, "Are you running a fever?"

~o*o~

Since it was noontime, Treve's mother insisted that they stopped for lunch. They ate outside even though it was cold, because, as Treve said, you couldn't ask a centaur to go down into a den.

The travelers were all so tired that one by one they fell asleep on the ground, even Martin. The strain, the worry was over. They could rest in peace and think what came next, now that they were in Archenland. Peter certainly wondered what they were going to do. The others didn't care.

It was about three o'clock when Martin woke and he proceeded to wake the others.

"We can reach Cair Anvard by nightfall," He said when they were all awake enough to hear him.

"By nightfall?" Flavis groaned, "You mean to say you want to keep going today?"

"But of course," Martin's eyes widened, "You don't really think I meant not to?"

"But of course!" Flavis said, rolling over, "We've just been going all day and all night and I'm tired."

Martin stamped his hoof and opened his mouth to reply.

"We could fly to Anvard and get help," Jafa interrupted.

"You interrupted me!" Martin exclaimed.

"As far as I know you weren't talking," Jafa said reasonably. "What about flying to Anvard?"

"No," Martin said. "We don't need help."

~o*o~

"It's something to do with his image," Flavis said to Susan, a few minutes into their journey. "If the Archenland generals hear that the supreme Narnian general sent for transportation after his mission was over he'd be the laughing stock of Archenland's army. It's been a friendly feud since he became the supreme general, because he has some good friends in Archenland's army."

The four children walked, even Lucy, but she got so tired that Equus agreed to carry her.

"After all," he said, "she weighs no more than a feather."

They walked through a village unnoticed and struck out down the road leading to Anvard after Mrs. Beaver insisted on buying something to eat on the way.

The sun was beginning to set and the sky overhead was black and glowing indigo, then pink around the edges. In the distance, the skyline of the city of Anvard rose up ahead of them.

"We shall reach it before the night is old," Martin proclaimed, already he wasn't feeling so tired.

"Would you humans like a ride?" Flavis asked.

"You must be very tired," Susan said, "we wouldn't want you to be bothered with us."

"No," Equus said, "We are all quite awake; I know that gleam in Martin's eye."

Susan accepted a ride, but Peter refused and Edmund refused because Peter did.

"Think it must be warmer here in Archenland," Edmund remarked.

"I think you're right," Peter said, "There isn't nearly as much snow either."

~o*o~

The night was dark because the moon filtered through a layer of clouds. Snow began falling, in big, soft gentle flakes. They spiraled down and caught in Lucy's hair as she slept, leaning up against Equus's back.

They dappled Flavis's black coat and made Treve look like he was going prematurely gray. Shard turned into a white ghost, almost unseen.

Edmund was so tired he felt that he would drop, his legs ached from riding the centaurs and his head ached from staring at the blinding snow so long. Night was welcome.

"Are we very near?" he asked after awhile.

"Quite near," Flavis said, "we are probably only a mile from the city. Do you want a lift?"

Edmund glanced at Peter, walking easily beside him.

"No," Edmund said, "I'm not tired."

The lights of Anvard glowed and beckoned them warmly and soon they were walking in the outskirts of Anvard. They passed glowing windows of houses as they walked into the more developed part of the city. They heard soft voices and saw a group of carolers singing quietly at a doorstep. Most of them were squirrels and hedgehogs, only one was human.

Cair Anvard herself stood as the crowning ornament on a hill in the middle of the city. Laboriously, they climbed the hill and reached the gates of the castle.

"Who goes there?" a voice echoed from the shadows and a centaur with a spear materialized, "Sir Martin! Lord Equus! Sir Flavis!"

"Yes," Flavis replied, "It's just us, will you let us in? It's very cold."

"Of course!" the centaur said, "Open the gates!"

"Aye, aye sir!" a voice from above them responded and the great portcullis began to creak open.

"Thank you Ahearn," Martin said and led the way though the gatehouse into a courtyard.

The courtyard was very dark, but long shafts of light from the windows of the great hall sent paths of gold across the cobblestones.

"I'd forgotten," Flavis said, "The first day of Christmastide is today."

"Christmas?" Susan asked, "What do you celebrate?"

"The fact that Aslan created the earth." Flavis said, "There are twelve days of Christmas for every hour Aslan took to create the world. It is a time of giving and thanksgiving."

"Why do you celebrate in the winter time?" Lucy asked.

Flavis paused, his face blank, "I don't know…the first King of Narnia made it so."

"We celebrate something entirely different at Christmas in our world," Susan said.

"You have Christmas in your world?" Flavis said.

"Yes," Susan said, "We celebrate the birth and life of someone very special."

~o*o~

They followed Martin through an inconspicuous door and down a hallway. It was warm in there, a new feeling that everyone had almost forgotten. The hallway was wide and a few people, real humans, looked at them oddly, as they passed. They reached the entrance to the great hall and saw the golden light and merry laughter. The guards waved them past after they recognized Martin.

Martin's excitement got the better of him and he cantered into the hall, half reared, then cried, "We have come!"

His voice reverberated around the hall. When the echoes died, several ladies fainted dead away.

"Martin!" cried a big man, probably not over twenty-five, who was in fact King Lune, "I'm very glad you are back, but why does it have to be an event every time you appear?"

Martin stamped his hoof. "We have come!"

"What he means to say is," Flavis said calmly, "We've brought the children."

"Wonderful!" King Lune exclaimed. He stood up and came around the table, stopping before Lucy and bowing, "And whom do I have the honor of addressing, little lady?"

"I'm Lucy," Lucy said, bobbing into a curtsey and smiling her biggest smile. "And that's Peter and that's Edmund and that's Susan."

King Lune smiled, "I'm honored."

He turned to Martin, "I think you have done well,"

"Thank you sire!" Martin exclaimed. "It was a great honor to traverse Narnian soil and seek the future sovereigns of Narnia."

"Well," King Lune said, "Glad you're back." He turned, "Make places at my table for our guests!"

Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy found themselves whisked away and seated at the table. They saw a very pretty young woman at King Lune's right and learned that she was the Queen. They asked no more. They ate and hardly remembered stumbling off after some courtiers. They did remember going to bed very clearly.


	2. The Council

The Council

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><p>"Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; an argument an exchange of ignorance." ~Robert Quillen<p>

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><p>Edmund stirred.<p>

His foot was cold and he jerked it back under the blankets.

The next instant all of his blankets were ripped off.

With his eyes still closed, he reached out for them.

"Ed!" Peter's voice broke into his foggy brain, "Time to get up, its tomorrow!"

Edmund pulled his eyelids open and started when he saw that they were in a large well-furnished room. There was a fireplace with a roaring fire and it was beautifully warm in there. Peter was wearing very odd clothes; he had on a tawny golden velvet tunic, a fur lined cloak, hose and knee-high boots. Rhindon hung at his side.

"What happened to our old clothes?" Edmund moaned.

"They're over there," Peter said, "but you won't want to wear them."

A small faun stepped forward, "here are your clothes your majesty," he handed Edmund a dark blue velvet tunic.

"Is there any chance of breakfast?" Edmund asked, swinging out of bed.

~o*o~

Lucy sat on the bearskin in front of the fire in the girls' room while Mrs. Beaver brushed her hair. Lucy loved her dress; it was crushed velvet of a dusty rose. Susan's was a rather cool silvery violet.

"I wonder if the boys are up yet?" Lucy asked, looking over at Susan.

"I'm sure they are," Susan sat down next to Lucy. "At least Peter would be, I not sure about Edmund."

"I'm sure they must have woken by now, dearies," Mrs. Beaver said, beginning to braid Lucy's hair and working in ribbons of the same color as Lucy's dress.

A gentle tap came at their door and a slim willowy girl came in, "I have your breakfasts."

She set them down on a table by the window.

"This is almost like breakfast in bed!" Susan said standing up, "thank you very much…I'm afraid I don't know your name."

"Clyte," the girl said, "I shall be waiting on your majesty."

"Your majesty?" Susan exclaimed, "No, just call me Susan."

"Yes…Susan," Clyte said.

"Good," Susan said, "Come, Lucy."

They sat and ate and Clyte watched, shyly.

"Will you tell us about yourself?" Susan asked, unable to bare the silence.

"I'm a Narnian," Clyte said, "My parents are dead and I live with my brothers Lord Peridan and Baeth and my Uncle, Lord Paladin."

"Really!" Susan said, taking a bite out of a frosted biscuit, "Tell us about Narnia…or the Narnians here in Archenland."

"My grandfather came to Archenland when a hundred years ago the witch took over Narnia. They fought, but she was too strong for them. King Lune's grandfather was king of Archenland at the time and he gladly took them in. in return we work for Archenland, we help defend her, we help grow crops, we do anything we can."

"I suppose it's sort of like living in someone else's house," Lucy said, getting up and walking to the window. She looked down into the front courtyard and saw a myriad of life bustling to and fro. There were women in bright gowns with baskets of washing and men leading horses. There were carts and horsemen coming in and out of the gaits. And there was laughter. It was like an aimless brilliant dance.

"Exactly like that," Clyte said, smiling. "What about you? Begging your pardon."

"Us?" Lucy asked, looking over her shoulder, "Oh, we came from England."

"Somewhere else," Susan explained hurriedly.

"Oh, I say!" Lucy exclaimed and there was a clatter as she fumbled with the window and a gust of cold air followed by a poof of feathers as she opened the window.

Susan looked up, then leaped to her feet.

"Why Chibb!" she exclaimed, "Come in!"

"Hello! Hello! So glad you got in!" Chibb exclaimed.

"We are very grateful to you, you were very brave," Susan said as Chibb landed on her outstretched hand.

"Oh it was nothing!" Chibb twittered modestly, "I came to tell you that Queen Deidre would like to meet you! Properly this time."

~o*o~

The faun had just fastened a silver brooch on Edmund's cloak when a scratch came at the door.

Peter bounded to the door and threw it opened.

"Treve! Come in!"

The little fox strode importantly through the door, closed his eyes, tilted his head to the ceiling and said, "The Great Narnian Counsel requests your majesties presence as soon as you are able to grace them with your time," Treve opened his eyes and smiled at them, "they made me memorize that. That was my first job as page."

"Well," Peter said, "can you show us to where they are?"

"Certainly!" Treve snapped to attention and marched stiffly out the door with his tail sticking up like a pipe cleaner. Peter and Edmund smiled and followed him.

~o*o~

Chibb perched on Susan's shoulder and directed her and Lucy down the tapestried hallway to the queen's apartments. On the way, they passed Treve stiffly leading Peter and Edmund down the hallway in the opposite direction.

"Where are you off to?" Lucy asked Edmund.

"Narnian counsel," Edmund called, "Where are you going?"

"To see the queen!"

Chibb directed Susan and Lucy down another hallway, then up a flight of steps and finally they came to a door.

"This is it," Chibb said.

Susan knocked gently and a faint 'come in' answered her.

They opened the door and looked inside. The room was beautiful. There were heavy, beautiful tapestries depicting a king hunting, a great battle, a beautiful castle. There was the smell of perfume and thick Calormen carpets.

The room was large and around the corner, a door stood half-open, showing the queen's bedchamber and a few maids moving about.

The queen, herself, sat in a chair with her embroidery in front of her. She was beautiful, slim, with her thick brown hair curling down her back like rolling waves. Her dress was dark green velvet and her eyes, they saw as she looked up at them, were of the same color.

"Hello!" She said and stood up, dropping her embroidery on a table, "You must be Lucy and you…Oh, I am afraid I've forgotten your name! Anyway, I am Deidre!"

Susan swept a deep curtsy and Lucy quickly followed her example.

"Your majesty, we are honored to meet you!" Susan said, "I am Susan."

"Oh no!" the queen smiled, "just call me Deidre, Susie…may I call you Susie?"

"Of course!" Susan said, "I've been called Su and Annie, but never Susie."

"Well," Deidre said, "there is no time like the present to start! How was your trip?"

Susan immediately launched into a practical account of their trip.

"So?" Deidre said, "You were chased into Narnia by your housekeeper? How odd. Never fear, our housekeepers never chase a soul."

Susan grinned. "Ours don't usually, either."

Lucy caught sight of the embroidery hoop laid carelessly on the table. It had a piece of thin material as would be used for a handkerchief. Party embroidered into the corner of the fabric was a red rose.

"It's beautiful!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Thank you," Deidre said looking down at it.

"I never learned how to embroider," Lucy said, "Is it fun?"

"You never learned?" Deidre's eyebrows shot up, "there's no time like the present to start!"

~o*o~

Treve led them down a hallway to a door in front of which Martin, Flavis and Equus were discussing a subject heatedly. They stopped abruptly when they saw Peter and Edmund approach, which gave Edmund the uncanny feeling that _they_ were just being discussed.

"Lord Peter, Lord Edmund," Equus said, "This way."

Martin gave Treve a look, before following Equus, and Treve, who was smart enough to know when he wasn't wanted, trotted away and decided to look for the kitchen.

Equus led Peter and Edmund through the door and they found themselves at the top of a set of shallow steps leading into a large chamber in the center of which was a long roughly hewn table. The windows were narrow and were set high in the wall. They cast a cold wintery light into the room.

The Narnian Counsel was largely made up of men, but there was a squirrel, a black leopard, two centaurs and a phoenix. Only half of the lords were talking, the others remained silent and watched them. The ones that were talking, though, were talking loudly and arguing among themselves. The noise was deafening.

"Who are they all?" Peter asked.

"Which ones?" Flavis asked.

"Any of them?"

"The ones that will be on your side are on the right side of the table, the centaurs, the squirrel, the black leopard, the phoenix, Lord Paradin, Lords Ron and Ronin and Lord Paladin, Paradin's uncle. The chaps against you are the other ten, the chap in purple ought to be the court jester instead of a lord."

"How did he become a lord of the counsel?" Edmund asked.

"Like the rest of them, born into it," Flavis said. "When you become king, kindly make a law banning that."

Peter and Edmund came down the steps and sat in two empty chairs at the table, largely unnoticed. Equus, Flavis and Martin stood at the sideline with their arms folded and grim expressions written on their faces.

"How do we know that they are really from the prophesy?" the lord in purple threw across to another with a curled mustache.

"I'm not going to follow a collection of children," another with a thick beard hollered.

"But how do we know?" curly mustache yelled, "what if they are working for the witch, what if they are just sorcerers in disguise?"

"I won't have anyone but a Narnian for king." Purple chimed in.

"I suppose we should give them a chance…" said a chap with something on his head that looked vaguely like a green muffin.

"Of course not!" curly mustache yelled.

"Why not?" said green muffin.

"You don't know what you're talking about!"

"I do too know! _You _don't know what _you _are talking about!"

"You are just a babe in lord's clothes!"

"I am not! Take that back!"

"Enough!"

Peter had jumped to his feet and slammed his fist down on the table. The room reverberated with the nose and the Counsel was instantly silent. Peter's golden eyes blazed and he looked like a cat ready to strike.

"Be quiet, all of you…that means you too…We will _never _take Narnia again if we don't agree! We must be united…I said be quiet… we must work together! You argue about petty things when Narnia could be retaken! You act like a bunch of children! I see you could have taken Narnia long ago if you had only been united!"

Peter took a deep breath and realized what he was doing and he said more calmly, "look, a stick by itself can be easily broken, but a bundle of sticks are much harder to break, one of you could never take Narnia by yourself, but together we can be invincible!"

"What do you propose we do then?" curly mustache asked.

"I think we should gather an army, be ready as we can and wait for Aslan to act, for he _will_ act," Peter said, he didn't know how he knew, but somehow he did know that Aslan would come.

"Who will lead us?" Purple asked.

"Martin!" the other exclaimed.

All eyes turned to Martin.

"It is not my place to lead you," Martin said calmly, "that lot falls to another."

"What other?" someone asked.

Slowly Martin pointed to Peter.

"Him?" Purple squeaked, "He is but a child!"

"Sirrah! You overstep yourself, he has spoken the first word of reason I have heard in many a year!" a quiet voice spoke and Edmund saw that it was a young man, hardly older then Peter, who sat at the end of the table. The young man turned to Peter, "Will you lead us?"

Peter swallowed and glanced around at the faces along the table. Some showed anger, some worry, some eagerness and some, like Edmund's, trust. Peter stood up again.

"If the only way you can be united is if a boy will lead you, then, with the help of Aslan, I'll do it." Peter said. "Yes, I'll lead you."

Edmund knew, by the quaver in Peter's voice, that he was angry and when Peter was angry it was an event. Edmund looked over at Martin and saw that he was smiling, very slightly, and Flavis was grinning.

"What about the four children from the prophesy," Purple said, "They were suppose to lead us."

Peter closed his eyes and there was a strangled sound from Martin's direction.

"Blockhead," The quiet voice from the end of the table sounded, "They are the ones from the prophesy!"

"I don't believe it," Purple said.

"Who do you think we are, then?" Edmund shot out of his seat, "who else could we be then the ones from the Prophesy!"

There were some murmurings.

"How do we know this is true?" curly mustache asked and they heard a choking nose from the direction of Martin.

Edmund thought. How could he prove that they were whom they said? He drew his dagger and drove its point into the tabletop. The dagger stood quivering in the wood and the sapphire in the hilt gleamed, "this was a present Father Christmas gave me from Aslan, it was made in Bism. I think you will find that there is no craftsmanship like it on earth."

A lord pulled the dagger loose from the table and looked at it closely. Then he handed it to the next person and so on until all had seen it and it returned to Edmund.

"I think friends, we have made fools of ourselves," the same young man who had asked Peter to lead them said.

A few ayes of agreement followed.

The lord who had spoken rose and walked to Peter and Edmund. He drew his sword and knelt with his forehead to the hilt in front of Peter.

"I, Lord Peridan, do swear on my sword that I will faithfully serve you as my sovereign lords and pledge my lands, possessions and life to your cause."

Peter stared down at him, "thank you…!"

Lord Peridan stood up.

"Let me by!" a small voice from near the ground called from behind lord Peridan. Lord Peridan stepped quickly aside and the squirrel strode up to Peter and Edmund.

He was standing on his hind legs and he was about two feet tall. On his back was a quiver of arrows and a bow. His tail curled aristocratically and his ear tufts twitched importantly.

He knelt with his forehead to his arrow, "I, Lord Twang, do swear on my arrow that I will faithfully serve you as my sovereign lords and pledge my lands, possessions, bow and life to your cause."

Fifteen minutes more and all of the lords had done the same.

The last lord had just sat down again when the door of the chamber opened and a great shaft of silver light fell on them. King Lune stood silhouetted, looking down at them. Behind him stood Deidre, Susan and Lucy.

"King Lune!" Equus said, "Please enter!"

"You have talked the whole morning!" King Lune said and trotted down the steps into the room.

Lucy followed him, but Deidre and Susan stayed talking in the doorway.

King Lune walked to Peter and Edmund, "would you care to join my wife and me at luncheon?"

"Of course, your majesty!" Peter exclaimed.

"You mean we missed breakfast?" Edmund moaned.

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><p>AN: Well, what do you think? This is the start to the wait of their lives. We both hope that you will enjoy this story. We know that _The Wardrobe_ was read (over 1000 hits!), but we're not sure if anyone actually liked it. (: We assume so, but without feedback, we can't be sure. We love feedback of any kind!


	3. Exspectare

Exspectare

Latin: to wait for, to expect

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><p>'Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see [it].'~ Psalms 37:34 (KJV)<p>

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><p>~o*o~<p>

Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, Shard, Equus, Flavis, Martin, Trevelyan, the four children and the king and queen took luncheon together. It was a rather long and drawn out affair, because King Lune, a big man, liked to eat and Edmund, a thin wiry boy, ate nearly as much. King Lune won in the end, but admitted it a near thing.

They took luncheon in a large airy room with tall marble columns, potted plants and a view of the garden, now covered with snow. The room was decked with holly and evergreen and in the corner Narnian fauns played flutes and Narnian Centaurides played harps. For, as King Lune said, there are no musicians that can match the Narnians. Centaurides are almost as spectacular as Centaurs. A beautiful woman, fused with a beautiful horse's body is breath taking in the least.

A slender little girl Centauride, who was serving the drinks, was completely adorable with her head of golden curls and ready smile.

They feasted on venison the King and his courtiers had killed that morning. It was the second day of Christmas, a day of hunting.

After they had finished eating King Lune pulled four small parcels wrapped in paper out of his pocket and placed one in front of each of the children.

"Open them." King Lune said.

They looked at each other thoughtfully, then began to open their packages. Peter broke the strings around his, Susan untied each knot, Edmund bit through his and Lucy ripped the paper and whatever it was inside slid out of the string. Therefore, she was the first to see what it was.

It was a small, slim dagger, beautifully made, yet unornamented.

"It's very nice…" She said slowly.

"It's for your protection," King Lune said, "All of you, keep the daggers on your person at all times. One must always be armed, especially you people."

"Thank you," Peter said.

"Now," Deidre said, looking at the girls. "You said something about wanting to see the weaving rooms?"

"Yes we did!"

"Mrs. Beaver," Deidre said. "Would you grace us with your presence? I've heard you know a great deal about weaving."

"I'd love to come." Mrs. Beaver smiled.

The girls left the room laughing. Flavis, Equus, Mr. Beaver and Shard went away to who knows where and Treve went to the kitchen, because he hadn't been able to find it the first time. Martin left with a very preoccupied look on his face.

King Lune marked that look and turned to the boys, who were the only ones left.

"Now I have to see about the business of ruling." He said, "Go do as you like; heaven knows that you won't get to do much of that when Martin gets of hold of you."

With that said, he left and Peter and Edmund decided to explore. They found their way outside, walked out onto the battlements and looked down at the town of Anvard, a now very busy place.

Edmund leaned over the parapet and watched a cart drive through the gates of the castle. The wheels were caked with snow and vapor rose from the horse's nostrils.

"Ed," Peter said, startling Edmund out of his reverie. "I'm not sure I can do it."

"Of course you can!" Edmund said looking over at him; to Edmund Peter was fail proof.

"But I've never led an army before!" Peter said kicking at a chunk of ice, "I guess I didn't know what I was getting myself into."

"Aslan picked us," Edmund said.

"Who _is_ Aslan?" Peter asked.

Edmund looked back over the town, "a lion."

Peter snorted.

The cold wind blew and numbed their faces.

"I wish he'd come," Peter said. "I mean, I'm far too young to do this! Lucy'll probably be the youngest conqueror in history. No one that young has ever done something like this before."

"Which," Edmund said calmly, "Is why we are too young to realize it's impossible."

~o*o~

It wasn't hard for Treve to find his way to the kitchen, he just followed his nose. The kitchen door itself was closed, but a ring of animals, mostly dogs, were in a circle before the door.

"Good morning?" Treve said, slowly.

A jackal from near the door burst into fits of laughter, "Have you ever heard anything like that, Ray?" he gasped, "He says good morning and it's really good afternoon!"

The other jackal, who was apparently Ray, rolled on his back, laughing. Treve retreated into a corner, embarrassed.

"Don't let them disturb you," A big bloodhound panted, "They're always like that."

This sent the jackals into fresh spasms.

"What are you all doing here?" Treve asked.

"Same as you," A pointer said.

"What's that?" Treve asked.

"Do you know?"

"No."

"That's it."

~o*o~

"Your majesties?"

Peter and Edmund spun around to see Lord Paladin coming towards them. The lord was middle aged, his hair graying, his eyes green flecked. He had the appearance of a wolf, always watching, always wary.

"Lord Paladin," Peter said.

"I wish to congratulate you," Lord Paladin said, bowing before them. "You behaved impressively. You did not let them bully you and you now have their respect."

"Thank you sir," Peter said.

Paladin inclined his head, "If I may make so bold, I would be fascinated if you told me your story."

Peter told it as briefly as he could, Edmund adding a few things here and there. When he had finished Lord Paladin looked over at them, for he had been looking over the city during the story.

"It is well told, sire," He said, "Truly remarkable."

"Tell us your story." Peter said.

"My story, or the story of my family?"

"Perhaps both."

"Very well," Lord Paladin said slowly, then began: "Our line is very old, descending from King Frank the first king of Narnia's youngest son who married a dryad. Our family was very well established when Stormrunner, Equus's grandfather, prophesied that four thrones must be built in Cair Paravel. The king, King Xenon, was very weak and very proud. At first, he would not build the thrones, then my father, who was very dear to the king persuaded him that he must. It was that year that the tree of protection between Narnia and the western wilds blew down. Jadis, the witch, had already taken Telmar, the country just to the west of Narnia, and she invaded Narnia too. My father was nearly killed in the fighting that followed and my mother, sweet lady that she was, tended his wounds and helped him escape to Archenland. Others were not so fortunate; a quarter of the humans that lived in Narnia were killed and a quarter were turned to stone.

"Kind King Cor of Archenland, grandfather of King Lune, gladly took in the Narnians that escaped. My father and mother were married and my older brother was born, then I. My father died young and my brother sat in his place in the great Narnian council. They decided that I too should sit with them, because they were lacking one member. Those were the days when the council was sane! My brother and his wife died three years ago of an illness, leaving behind their infant son Baeth, Peridan and their daughter, Clyte. I myself have never married and I will strive to raise Baeth as my own. Then it is as you see us now, hoping, watching and waiting."

~o*o~

The weaving rooms were a very interesting place. They were large rooms with high ceilings and many looms. The ladies didn't just weave in those rooms. They sewed, embroidered, carded wool and spun thread as well.

The first room they went into was the weaving room. It was filled with looms as high as the ceiling and looms as long as the room. The ladies sang and joked while they worked and the thing they were talking about as Deidre, Mrs. Beaver and Susan and Lucy came into the room were the mysterious children that had arrived two days ago.

Susan and Lucy wandered through the room with Deidre behind them, telling then what different things were and how they worked and talking to Mrs. Beaver about different fabrics.

They came to the largest loom in the room where the weaver was singing in a high soprano. She stopped and smiled at them as they approached.

"Your majesty!" she stood up and curtsied.

"That's not necessary, Lyon." Deidre said.

Lyon sat down again and began to weave. They watched as the shuttle flitted back and forth behind the smooth golden fabric.

"It's beautiful," Lucy said softly.

"It is," Susan said.

"I think it looks just like Peter." Lucy said.

Deidre snapped her fingers. "Come, let's go where we can talk, I have an idea!"

They followed her out of the weaving rooms to her own room. She shut the door, then turned to them.

"I have an idea!"

"Really?" Lucy asked; she adored ideas.

"You four will become kings and queens someday!" Deidre said. "You will each need your own banner! If I teach you how to embroider and sew, then, you might as well do something useful with it. You can sew the Narnian banner, then you can each come up with your own."

~o*o~

That night was the second feast of Christmas. Deidre had a splendid time trying dresses on Susan and Lucy and finally introducing them to everyone in the great hall. It was a blaze of lights, laughing and dancing. It was a night that the four children remembered for the rest of their lives. It was so utterly perfect, so peaceful, so joyful.

The floor was smooth in glowing streams of wood. The room whirled by like the time, too fast, too exhilarating.

Perhaps they remembered it so well because it was the one night remembered when there was nothing they had to do, nothing to be finished or completed, it was done. There was nothing left to do. Their goal was reached.

Until, of course, the next morning.

* * *

><p>AN: It was so fun to research the Christmas feasts of the Middle Ages, not to mention how wonderful the clothes are! The minor characters are all such fun, especially King Lune, the Queen and Treve. Treve is exactly where I've wanted to be for years.

~Rose


	4. The Army

The Army

* * *

><p>"Semper Paratus" (Always Ready) ~ the Motto of the US Coast Guard<p>

* * *

><p>~o*o~<p>

They were woken early the next morning, too early. At least in Edmund's eyes. The boys were crammed into leather jerkins and the girls were poured into dark green wool dresses. After cloaks were draped over them, their handlers saw fit to let them loose on the world.

"I think there's something up their sleeves," Edmund said as they were hustled into a private breakfast room.

"Quite," Lucy said as they sat down. "I think they tied my laces too tight."

"It was that peahen," Susan said. "She's not qualified to tie laces."

"Susan!" Peter exclaimed, "That's strange coming from you."

"So what did you do yesterday?" Lucy asked, but she never found out, for at that moment the door burst open and Martin cantered in. He stopped in mid-stride and tried to bow, but he nearly collided with a maid. He grabbed her, set her on her feet, right side up fortunately, then he turned to them and opened his mouth.

"Not yet, Martin," Susan said smoothly. "Wait 'till we finish, then we'll come."

Martin paused, staring at them and remained silent with increasing nervousness until Lucy had slowly spooned the last bit of porridge into her mouth.

"C-" Martin began. Susan waved her hand at him.

"Does anyone want any more?" she asked.

They all looked at each other, Peter was quite ready to follow Martin, but Edmund had a devious smile.

"I think I'd like a little more," he said calmly.

There was a choking sound from Martin's direction, a muffled giggle from Lucy and a hooded smile from Edmund.

When Edmund had finally finished Martin took a deep breath, looked quickly at Susan, then began.

"Your majesties," he began. "I request your presence at the council room."

They stood up and, much to Martin's relief, followed him. The door of the council chamber opened as they neared it and Flavis ushered them in.

"So you're finally here!" He said. "For a little while I thought you'd gotten lost."

Martin gave him a dark look and went down the stairs. The chamber was filled with creatures again, Equus, Lord Paladin, Lord Peridan, Lords Ron and Ronin, Lord Twang, the black leopard, the Phoenix, and a bulldog, a unicorn, a gryphon, an eagle and a large raven on the table.

"Come," Flavis said, leading them down the stairs and seating them at the center of the table. "Now Martin?"

Martin came before them, "Majesties," He said. "I have taken the liberty of gathering together the most trustworthy Narnians here at Cair Anvard. We have much to discuss. We must gather an army and we wish to know your plan on proceeding. General Winston?"

The bulldog, with surprising agility jumped onto the table.

"We already have a small army at our disposal, but I would suggest that we send out messengers and notices asking Narnians to enlist."

"Yes." Peter said.

"May I speak?" Lord Paladin asked. Flavis nodded.

"I have a castle, Cair Dirque, not ten miles from here, I offer it as a training ground for the army."

"Thank you," Peter said.

"Your majesties," Equus spoke for the first time, "do you have some plan, yourselves?"

"I have been thinking about it." Peter said slowly. "Yes, we do need an army. We need to train it and arm it and be ready to leave at a moment's notice. I think we should somehow work in Narnia too, let the Narnian people know what we are doing, so when we invade they will rise up as well."

"Is there an underground in Narnia?" Edmund asked suddenly. "Yes, of course there is one, tell me about Narnia. The people, how many do you think there are there?"

"I think Lord Darcy can tell us best," Flavis said.

The black leopard leapt up on the table and sank down next to Lord Winston.

"I am acquainted with the Narnian underground. It is far from large, limited nearly only to the Dwarfs. From the meager amount of money Narnians here in Archenland have been able to raise, we have been able to drop food and supplies every month. General Gallagher and Lord Farsight …" he looked towards the Gryphon and the eagle, "have organized that with the help of Sallowpad…" he twitched his tail at the Raven, "The leader of the underground is a black Dwarf named Brant. He is chief smith at the Great River smithy…"

"The smithy is working?" Peter interrupted. "They make weapons?"

"Yes," Darcy said, "Narnia is not lacking in gold, silver and iron ore."

"Are there many smithies in Narnia?"

"Six or seven, and there are also tanneries, run by the red Dwarfs and carpentry shops run by the beavers."

"Good," Peter said, "Continue."

"Brant is chief smith at the Great River smithy, he is an extremely influential person of the underground; they all listen to him."

"How would it be if we made contact with the underground," Peter said. "And tell the smiths to arm every Narnian that can carry an arm and have them ready to rise up when we come."

"Majesty," Darcy said. "I will do that."

"Good," Edmund said. "How soon can you tell him?"

"Within the week." Darcy said.

"Sooner the better," Edmund said. "I wish I could go."

"Certainly not." Susan said.

"Another thing," Edmund said. "We need spies, someone to tell us how strong the witch is. Where's Shard? He should be here."

"Sire," Martin said. "I hardly know if we should trust him, but if you wish he will be summoned."

Peter nodded, "I trust him."

Martin galloped to the door and called down the hallway, a moment later he returned.

"He will come."

"Sirs," Susan said slightly nervously, "I know this has nothing to do with what you are talking about…"

Flavis looked at her encouragingly.

"I think we should have medics."

They looked at her oddly.

"Healers. You can't go to war without. In our world we have ambulances; I think we should have wagons that are fitted out with a medical staff."

Martin for once looked thoughtful.

"So," Susan said, "When you send out notices asking for people to enlist; then ask for doctors too."

Then a scratching came at the door and Flavis let Shard in.

"Your majesties?"

"Shard," Edmund said. "We've been discussing Narnia and the Narnian underground. I think we need spies on the witch and somebody in her confidence would be best, do you know of anyone?"

Shard sank down on the floor, glowing white; his blue eyes boring into them.

"There is a young wolf in the secret police." He looked away, "he is loyal and would be of great help. It would be a dangerous job, but I think he would do it."

"Who is he?" Edmund asked.

"His name his Loki, he is my nephew, Maugrim's son."

"I didn't know you had a nephew," Susan said gently.

"We'll have to figure some way of making contact with him." Edmund said.

"I'll go." Shard said. "I know Narnia better than most and I will not be caught."

"It will be dangerous," Edmund said. "You are a traitor to them."

"Do not speak to me of danger," Shard said, "I will go."

"Very well," Edmund said.

"And we will immediately act upon your majesties' other orders." Martin said.

And so the war council was created.

~o*o~

Later that morning the four children found themselves in the courtyard. King Lune, Queen Deidre and King Lune's two younger brothers, Dar and Darrin were waiting for them.

"We decided that the best place to start with your education would be riding." King Lune said.

"And there certainly is no time like the present to start," Deidre added.

King Lune called for the very best horses to be brought out. They came, large, small, black, and brown until the king had chosen the four best.

Lucy was given the smallest of the four horses. She was a beautiful rose gray mare named Rhoslyn.

Susan was given a mahogany bay mare that was as elegant as Susan herself. The horse was named Mia.

Edmund's horse was blue roan, as dark as charcoal. His name was Umbra.

Peter's horse was palomino, as golden as gold ore and he had a flowing white mane and tail. His name was Ambyr.

They mounted and the rest of the morning was riding. It was something they had never experienced before. The strength, the feeling of power a horse gives you. The friendship, the speed and the skill of riding. Watching their horses, learning their horses.

A good horse, once you have his trust and respect, gives you the feeling that he will never desert you, do anything for you, die for you, and these were such horses. At first riding was difficult and they certainly didn't learn all these things over one morning, but it was a good start. Over the months, they learned to move with their horse, think with their horse, be part of their horse. They learned to guide their horses without even thinking about it, they learned how to ask for the tiniest things, hardest things, and get it perfectly. They learned to stay on while their horses jumped like a ray of quick silver, they learned to calm their horses and sit the first flying gallops.

And they learned from the horses, they learned patience, confidence, pain, fear, command… Perhaps they learned more from the horses then they learned from anyone else, but they never knew.

~o*o~

That night was the third feast of Christmas. Deidre tried her best to teach them to dance, but it was mostly in vain for the boys, they were scared of any girls except their sisters.

There was another marvelous feast, then a choir stood and sang, their voices rising to heaven.

* * *

><p>AN: I just realized that this is the wrong season to be posting this…we should be doing this at Christmas. It was written this last Christmas and the Christmas before…(:

~Rose


	5. The Underground

The Underground

* * *

><p>"Semper Fidelis" (Always Faithful) ~ Motto of the United States Marines<p>

* * *

><p>~o*o~<p>

The only way into Narnia for some time had been a hard grueling route, twisting through the mountains, until Treve found the pass.

Darcy and Shard went to Narnia together, out of necessity. They did not trust each other and they made it clear when they reached the end of the pass they went their own way. Darcy to the Great River Ironworks and Shard to the woods.

~o*o~

Loki was in the barracks, the stables actually. It was a dark place, cold, dank. The palace repelled him, the dark creatures, Minotaurs, slithering dragons and most of all the werewolves, the dark evil smell, the witch herself and his own father. The only things right were the witch's horses.

Loki had never known his mother; he had never heard of her and knew that he wouldn't have existed if it hadn't been for Shard. Sh gruelingard. His uncle, the one that had taught him everything, cared for him and yes, even loved him. It had been that night when Shard left; Loki remembered seeing him, seeing the centaurs and even the four children. He had wanted to go with them, but he never could have. He didn't have the endurance or the speed of his uncle. It had been hard to see his only friend and protector leave him, perhaps forever.

Loki lay in the mud in the barracks and watched the light glitter on the dark eyes of the rats. It was night, time for sleep, but he couldn't sleep.

The white mare was sleeping above him in her stall. He could just see her head, ghostly white in the darkness. The stallion was awake, pacing his stall restlessly. Loki could feel his impatience, the need to walk, so he rose and went up the stairs and out the door.

He went to the throne room. He felt drawn to it somehow. It was the statue, the one on the stairs. He slipped across the huge floor, feeling the cold drafts brushing through his thin coat, going through the long shafts of moonlight. It was nearly midnight.

He stood before the statue, looking up at it. It was marble, cold, unfeeling, but he knew it had been alive once. The face was twisted in horror and guilt; it looked like it could have been a nice face, smooth, the hair just falling over the forehead.

Loki looked up earnestly into that face; then he saw it flicker for a moment. He felt he had imagined it, but it moved again. The mouth closed, the eyes blinked and stared down at him. It was horrible because the statue was still marble, those moving lips, still white as death.

"How long has it been?" it was a rasping whisper.

Loki flinched, "I don't know."

"Every night, midnight, I can speak. It's my rare moment of lucidity." It said. "Who are you?"

"Loki." Loki said. "What's lucidity?"

"Loki," the statue said, then grinned hideously, "I'm Eustace. Lucidity means I'm not out of it anymore."

"Oh…I see," Loki whispered. "You're named Useless?"

"I am that." Eustace said softly, "I'm a traitor."

"A traitor?" Loki asked, "To whom? The witch?"

"Naw, I wish." Eustace said. "It was my cousins, four of them. They're probably all dead now, no, not dead. Living dead."

"No," Loki said, "They're alive. They made it to Archenland. I saw them do it."

The statue closed his eyes and for a moment, Loki thought he would turn to stone again, but he did not.

"Thank goodness," Eustace whispered; then was silent for a moment, "I'm so cold."

Loki pressed up against the statue and felt how cold he really was, it was a deeper cold, more horrible, more penetrating then he had ever felt.

"Thank you," the statue whispered, "It helps. Every night…"

"Every night?" Loki asked.

"Every night she comes…there are pieces of ice…I must spell 'eternity'…"

Suddenly the statue's mouth opened, his head jerked to one side, his hair fell over his forehead and an agonized looked passed over his face before he was still. Stone.

Loki pulled away, painfully, because his coat had frozen to the statue. He looked up, but the statue was silent.

~o*o~

Brant found relief in work. He found relief watching the sparks fly; watching the piece of glowing metal, watching it turn into something beautiful, alive.

He plunged the dagger into a trough of water and saw the light in its heart quench under the billows of steam. It was something, nothing, just a little thing for his son, Rhett.

He held the dagger up, saw it, rough, unfinished, yet full of life. He dropped it on his bench and wiped is hands on a rag, turning. He caught sight of something dark, crouching in the doorway and watched while it rose and stalked towards him. Golden eyes, dark gleaming body like black velvet and silken paws on the dirt floor that was blackened with soot and age.

"Lord Darcy," Brant said.

"It is I," Lord Darcy crouched again, his eyes half closed. "The children from the prophecy are in Archenland."

"Do not jest."

"I do not." Darcy purred, "They have sent me to you with orders."

"Orders?" Brant asked. "I take orders form no man. Prove who they are."

"They were sent by Aslan from another world." Darcy's eyes were golden slits, "I have seen them and I believe that what they do is right."

"What do they wish me to do?" Brant asked. "If it is for the good of Narnia then I will do it."

"It is for Narnia," Darcy purred. "They wish you to arm Narnia. Make weapons, armor and distribute it secretly. Enlist the help of the other smithies in Narnia and do not fail them. The great prophet Equus has said that they will invade by next spring."

"There is a spy in the witch's castle that will be working for Narnia. He will report to you and you will deliver his reports to a messenger that we will send every week. The spy is a young wolf named Loki. Your password is this: 'when Aslan shakes his mane it will be spring again.'" Darcy stretched. "Now a personal warning, learn this spy before you trust him. Wolves are sly."

Brant picked up the half-made dagger with tongs and thrust it back in the fire.

"You will do it, then?" Darcy asked.

"I take orders from no man." Brant said stubbornly, but from the square of his stocky shoulders, he would do it.

~o*o~

Loki did not sleep that night. The horror of seeing the statue had been too much. He lay awake, longing for comfort, longing to see just one honestly beautiful good thing. It seemed forever before the sergeant came down and Loki's watch went up.

After an hour in the throne room, they went on a routine patrol of the castle grounds. Though Loki's muscles were hard he had a terrible time keeping up with the fierce pace of the other wolves. Maugrim had put him with them just to see him snap.

Suddenly something white leapt out of the shadows and pinned him to the ground. Loki struggled, but made no sound.

"Meet me at the cave, tonight." It was Shard. Shard let him up and Loki streaked after the other wolves, there had been no time to respond. When he looked back Shard was gone without a trace.

~o*o~

"None of you know why I have gathered you here today." Brant looked down at the group he had gathered, loyal Narnians all. His smithy was housed entirely in caves and he stood upon an oaken table. "Lord Darcy has brought news which I think you should hear from him only."

Lord Darcy leapt to the table and took in the room in one long gaze, "Long ago, just before the witch took Narnia, Stormrunner prophesied that there must be four thrones built at Cair Paravel for four children that would liberate Narnia from the witch. Just a two weeks ago, in the ninety ninth year of her reign, four children came into Narnia from another world."

A murmur filled the room.

"They made a grueling and dangerous journey through Narnia and are even now in the court of King Lune of Archenland. They sent me here with a command."

"By next spring, with Aslan's help, they will invade. They need you to be ready when they come. Those of you that are smiths, make armor and weapons and arm all those that may be armed. Those of you that work wood can make spears and bows and those of you that work leather can make breastplates and helmets. Can they count on you as loyal Narnians to do all they ask?"

A cheer rent the air.

~o*o~

It was only that night that Loki could go. The day was filled with maneuvers and grueling exercises. Only the night was his own. He could leave the castle, sleep, chase his tail, kill himself, no one cared. Just as long as he was there the next morning.

Loki lay in the mud in the stables. There was moonlight that night and it glowed through the little window high in the wall. The white mare was asleep again, this time in the back of her stall.

As usual, the stallion was awake and pacing his stall. Loki looked up, seeing the stallion's smooth white back, moving in the moonlight; arching neck, high withers, hollow back and croup, then around again. Loki always wondered if either of the horses had names. If they did, no one knew them, they were simply the horses.

The stallion paused in walk and thrust his head over the door of the stall. His ears pricked at some unknown sound and his shock of creamy white forelock tumbled over his dark, intelligent eyes. Horses seemed so wise somehow. Wise, lonely and pained.

Loki shifted onto his side. The stallion never failed to remind him of the day the horses escaped. They had gone after them and Loki remembered them, galloping in one mad dash over the snow, just the two of them. He remembered the snow churned by their flying legs, their flared nostrils, their wide, white rimmed eyes.

They signified something Loki had known before; he felt it within him as he watched them. That they would stake everything in that one foolhardy dash across the snow, to something they knew and longed for. That they would risk their lives for it. They were of course at last overtaken, the wolves held them at bay and the dwarfs roped them and threw them to the ground.

Afterwards Loki asked Shard what it was they wanted, tried to escape for. It was freedom, Shard said, freedom that they would die for. Loki had never felt the same about life since then, all he had ever known was captivity. The new idea of freedom frightened him and thrilled him. He longed for it, more than he had ever longed before.

It was midnight when he slipped through the castle. He paused at the throne room door and looked into the room; then he flitted over the floor toward the statue. He didn't know what possessed him to do it, the statue terrified him, but he was drawn to it.

"Loki?"

Loki jumped into the air, when he came back to earth he creped silently closer and looked up into the statue's face.

"You came back?" the statue asked, there was a strange sound in his voice.

"Yes," Loki whispered, "But I can't stay long, I have an appointment to keep with my uncle."

"Who's your uncle?"

"Shard."

"Shard…he brought me in here," Eustace rasped, "I almost liked him towards the end, though."

"I'm sure he didn't want to bring you," Loki said. "My father probably made him."

"Your father?"

"Maugrim." Loki spat. "He hates me, I hate him. That's all there is to it."

"You look like Maugrim, now that I think about it." Eustace saw the little wolf stiffen, "More like Shard, though."

"Really?" Loki stared up at the statue and Eustace saw heartfelt gratitude.

"Are all the statues like me?" Eustace asked. "Can they see and hear during the day and come partly to life at night?"

"Not as far as I know," Loki said. "They've all been solid stone for almost a hundred years."

"Maybe her power's weakening." Eustace croaked.

Loki's eyes widened, "You really think so?"

The statue never answered.

Loki sighed and looked away; then he streaked back across the wide stone floor and out the door.

The night guards did not question him as he went out the castle gates into the night. The cave Shard had mentioned was an old secret between them. Shard had found it when he was a puppy and Loki was the only creature he had ever told.

The cave was at the bottom of a sheer cliff and Loki had no trouble slipping into it.

"Loki?" the familiar voice filtered towards him.

"Shard, sir?" Loki quavered. "You've come back?"

Shard chuckled, "Yes, I have, but I must leave again. I have important work for you to do. It is up to you whether you will do it, because it will be dangerous."

"I'll do it." Loki said.

"Wait 'till you hear what it is, Loki." Shard said. "The four children are in Archenland now, you've seen them yourself. They want you to be a spy for them."

"A spy?" Loki asked.

"It's dangerous Loki."

"I'll do it."

"I knew you would."

* * *

><p>AN: Here is the Narnian underground. There _had _to have been one. Does this make sense?


	6. Nehushtan

Nehushtan

* * *

><p>Hebrew: A rod with a serpent coiled upon it, a symbol of medicine and healing.<p>

'…And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.'~ Numbers 21:8-9

* * *

><p>~o*o~<p>

The war council had been assembled. It had been a week since Shard and Darcy returned.

"Sire," Martin stood before Peter, "the first reports from Narnia have been received. Sallowpad has faithfully carried them here."

Martin held up a thin roll of paper, "Flavis, will you read?"

Flavis took it, drew a deep breath and held up the scroll.

"To his majesty, King Peter…" Peter choked; Flavis continued reading, "from his loyal servant, Brant, chief smith of the Great River smithy, greetings:

"Sire, your orders are being faithfully carried out. No smithies in Narnia have been quiet, night or day, and great hope has been inspired in the hearts of all Narnians. The spy, Loki, has made his report and it is enclosed."

Flavis dropped that page on the table and took up another one.

"Greetings from Loki. Your honorable cousin (in his rare moments of lucidity) sends his greetings too.

"Since you cousin (in his rare moments of lucidity) has enlightened me on the fact that he is able to see and hear during the night and speak for five minutes at night (his rare moment of lucidity), he will be of great service, since he is kneeling before _her _(you know who I mean) throne.

"Now for news. There is an ambassador from Calormen at the present time. Eustace has told me (in his rare moments of lucidity), that, though invading Archenland is never mentioned, it seems to be the general understanding. Eustace finds the negotiations most educational. My feeling is that the ambassador will not remain long, as he finds the werewolves most bothersome."

It may have been extremely serious, but no one, but Martin, could refrain from laughing after Flavis had finished.

"The Calormens are negotiating with the Witch?" Peter said. "That means something's going to happen soon."

"They have been trying to take over Archenland for years, sire." Flavis said. "They've been wanting Narnia too."

"I thought humans weren't allowed in Narnia," Lucy said.

"If she wants them there, then they are," Flavis said. "If _Aslan_ wants then there, then they are."

"I think we should send a spy to Calormen and see what their intentions are," Edmund said. "Have you any suggestions on who it would be?"

"Sire," Sallowpad croaked, "Send me, no one notices a raven."

Edmund looked at Peter and Peter nodded.

"Very well," Edmund said. "We'll send you."

"Your majesties," Flavis said, "We have scheduled your trip to Cair Dirque for tomorrow morning. I hope that's not too short a notice."

They all looked at Susan and she closed her eyes and thought for a little while.

"It should be all right." She said. "Tomorrow night is Twelfth Night, but we should be back by then."

~o*o~

_Poor Eustace, _Peter thought.

"What are you thinking about?" Edmund asked as he polished his dagger.

"Eustace," Peter said.

They were both silent.

"I wonder if we'll ever get him back again," Edmund said at last. "I always wonder whether he might have gone differently if I hadn't had that fight with him."

"I doubt it," Peter said. "It's more likely he might have gone differently if his parents had raised him differently."

"We weren't exactly nice to him ourselves," Edmund said.

"No, we weren't," Peter said. "I would do it differently if I could somehow go back in time. I think maybe Susan was the only one of us who was really nice to him."

There was a tap on the door and they both looked up.

"Come in," Peter said.

Lucy slipped through and closed the door after her.

"We're going to see the army tomorrow," she said, dropping cross legged between them on the floor. "_I_ think it's going to be extremely exciting."

"Yep," Peter nodded.

Lucy looked up at him, "What are you thinking about?"

"Eustace."

"Isn't it awful?" Lucy asked, "I lay awake at night thinking how terrible it must be. I wish I could see him again and say how sorry I am it happened. Do you think we will see him again?"

"Honesty," Peter paused, "I don't."

There was silence.

"This is a magical land…" Edmund said, "I wish we could all go back in time, just for a bit."

~o*o~

They went to see the army the next day. The entire war council accompanied them, as well as Shard, Treve, Mr. Beaver and Lord Peridan; Chibb came along for good measure.

The ride across the countryside was not long, but it was exhilarating. They swept over the snowy roads and thundered past everything like a swooping bird, the wind tearing through their hair and the horses' manes. Martin set the pace and by the time they arrived at Cair Dirque they were galloping. General Gallagher and Lord Farsight wheeled and circled overhead and Chibb just looked like a ball of fluff.

Cair Dirque was small and little more than a keep. The army was spread out around it like the spokes of a wheel to the hub.

"There are so many of them!" Susan exclaimed as they pulled their horses up.

"And they would all fight to the death," Martin said proudly.

"I fear, even if they do, there will not be enough of them," Mr. Beaver said.

"I must agree with you, friend," Shard said. "The witch has a vast, well organized and well trained army."

"And so will ours be," Martin exclaimed, stamping his hoof. "We have recruits pouring in."

"All of this arguing is pointless," Equus said calmly, "if we have a small army, so be it, all that matters is that Aslan is on our side. If he is with us, who can be against us?"

They rode down among the tents, feeling all eyes upon them. There were Centaurs, fauns, small giants, dwarfs, squirrels, foxes, humans, unicorns, great dogs, noble cats, bighorn rams, mice, chipmunks, phoenixes, bears, wolverines, stags, shaggy haired wisents, skunks, griffins…everything you could think of. They were all there, waiting for the day that they would take Narnia for their own.

They passed the smiths, blackened from the smoke, as they pounded burning metal over their anvils. They passed the leather workers as they sewed leather in vices, two needles in opposite directions.

The next tent was white and rather small and was one of several other tents, in front of it a lady leaned over the fire and stirred a bubbling cauldron of soup.

"The doctors you asked for are there, my lady," Martin said, to Susan.

"Are they?" Susan said, "I would like to stop there, then."

Outside the tent they dismounted, Martin held the flap of the tent open while Susan stepped inside, the others followed.

It was dim in there, and there was a wooden bed with a patient on it. The doctor turned to stare at them as they entered.

"What are you doing?" Susan asked.

"Your majesty," He said, "This man's arm was broken during training, I must amputate."

Susan looked down at it, at the blood and the shiny end of the bone.

"Don't amputate it!" She exclaimed. "Put a plaster on it, I'm sure it would heel."

"Plaster?" the doctor said. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Is there any plaster in this camp?" Susan asked.

"What kind?" the doctor asked.

"Susan," Edmund said, "I don't think plaster casts have been invented yet."

"Well its time they were," Susan said. "Have you any plaster?"

"It's made of ground gypsum," Edmund said. "Artists use it to cast sculptures."

"If I may make so bold," Lord Peridan said, "the insides of Cair Dirque are being replastered; perhaps some may be brought for your conveniences."

"Yes!" Susan said, then brushed the doctor out of the way and inspected the wound. It wasn't a bad break, the bone was only broken in one place and the end of it had punctured the skin.

"Why were you going to amputate it?" Susan asked.

"I was afraid of infection," the doctor said. "The last patient I had with a similar break became infected and died."

"Oh," Susan said. "Well then, we clean the wound. Have you any clean clothes?"

The doctor handed her a roll of bandages.

"I suppose they're not sterile?" Susan said, looking at them. The doctor looked puzzled. "Never mind."

It was then that a servant appeared, lugging a bucket of plaster. Susan peered into the bucket, then looked up.

"I'll need some course cloth, like gunny sack." She said. "Let's have some water…and soap."

Susan took the bucket of water offered her outside and went to the woman stirring the soup.

"Can you take the soup off the fire?" Susan asked, "I'd like to boil this water."

Wordlessly the woman passed a wooden spoon through the handle and lifted the soup off the hook that supported it. She watched in amazement as Susan put the bucket of water in its place, then dropped the roll of bandages in.

The servant reappeared with a gunnysack and Susan looked at it thoughtfully, then turned back to the bucket. It was a rolling boil before Susan saw fit to remove the bandages and hang them on a string she had Peter and Edmund rig up, which she previously had dropped in the boiling water.

"Now," Susan said, taking the bandages inside. "We clean the wound."

The doctor watched, marking her every movement. "May I ask," he said at last, "why you do all this? Boiling bandages?"

"To kill any bacteria on it." Susan said calmly.

"Bacteria?" the doctor asked.

"Tiny animals."

The doctor looked even more confused.

"Kindly set the break, doctor," Susan said.

"Of course," the doctor looked around and caught sight of Martin, who seemed to him to be the strongest. "General, sir, will you hold this man's shoulder?"

Martin obligingly took hold of the shoulder with such a grip it made the duped patient wince. The doctor pulled on the lower arm until the end of the bone disappeared and they heard it grate back into place. The patient thankfully slipped into unconsciousness before they were done.

The doctor watched enthralled as Susan cut the gunnysack carefully so it was one long strip, then dropped in it the bucket of plaster. She took the rest of the bandages down from the string and brought them into the tent, where she carefully wrapped the patient's arm. The doctor stared over her shoulder as she reached into the bucket of plaster, found the end and pulled out the strip of cloth. She wrapped the arm with the plaster soaked cloth and found that it stuck to itself, then she sat back and waited.

It was two minutes later that she tapped the cast and smiled.

"It's hard," She said, then stood up, "Take it off in six weeks with a saw."

"You're an angel," The patient opened his eyes and looked up at her, "It doesn't even hurt anymore."

"Thanks," Susan said, remembering that she was shy, then she turned back to the doctor.

"Can you come to the castle, Cair Anvard, you and all the other doctors? I'll talk to you about bacteria and how to avoid infections." She looked at Flavis, who was half in the tent. "It can be arranged?"

"Of course," Flavis said. "I will see to it as soon as we go back."

"What's your name anyway?" Susan asked, looking back at the doctor.

"Duval." The doctor said, then bowed. "We will be honored to have so wise a queen."

Susan went quite pink.

~o*o~

"We are here to take Narnia," Peter said. He had said those words so many times it felt like second nature. Next to him were Edmund, Lucy and Susan on their horses and before him was the army, assembled in full military formations. It had been an hour since Susan had set the soldier's arm. Already the camp was buzzing about it and 'bacteria' was a new war cry.

"You must strive to do your best in training, obey your commanders and work together as one body. Sleep with your weapons near you and be ready at any time to rise and march. We do not know when Aslan will come, but he will come and we must be ready. Surprise is our best ally."

Everyone cheered, whinnied, roared, squeaked, hooted, chirped and otherwise agreed in his best manner, then the musicians played the Narnia anthem and everyone cheered again.

~o*o~

It was around three o'clock that they came back towards Cair Anvard and it was in sight when Lucy turned Rhoslyn off the road and slid off her back.

They all stared at her curiously as she dropped to her knees and buried her hands in the snow. They were curious no longer when Flavis was hit in the face by an enormous snowball.

Flavis fell over magnificently and played dead.

"We're under attack!" Peter yelled, jumped free of Ambyr and starting to form a snowball. Edmund rolled off Umbra and started to build a snow fort with Susan's help.

After that, it was all out, war.

Peridan joined Lucy's side and both sides built a snow fort and were firing snowballs wildly. Shard caught a lot of them and Treve followed his example until both Shard and Treve were rolling in the snow. Mr. Beaver was burrowing under the snow and cutting large blocks of ice with his hatchet for the walls of Lucy's snow fort.

General Winston was galloping back and forth yelling, "Charge! We will fight them in their forts; we will fight them in their moats!"

The rest of the Narnian war council looked on solemnly. Lord Paladin was grinning and every time Lord Peridan was hit he yelled, "Here, here! Bravo."

Martin looked like a thundercloud and as the battle progressed, looked even more like a thundercloud. Lucy left her snow fort, stood before him; her hands clasped behind her back and looked up at him sweetly with her big irresistible blue eyes.

Martin looked down at her uneasily, stamped his hoof, looked away, then looked back. Finally he groaned, leaned over, took a handful of snow, closed his eyes and threw it cautiously. It hit Peter in the face.

"I say, jolly well shot, sir." General Winston stopped in mid gallop, "Couldn't have done better myself, eh woof?"

Lucy giggled and charged back to her snow fort, where Lord Peridan and Mr. Beaver had been defending valiantly. She got there just in time because the enemy, Peter, Susan and Edmund charged, shouting war cries.

"Bacteria, bacteria!" Edmund hollered.

Flavis thought this most unfair, came back from the dead and dumped a pile of snow on Peter's head. Susan collapsed laughing before she even reached the walls of the enemy fort and Edmund, turning traitor, sat on her and started rubbing snow into her face. Lucy fired a snowball at Edmund and it hit _him_ in the face.

Peter erupted from the pile of snow, grabbed Lucy and she fell over laughing as he started to tickle her. Edmund tackled Peridan and started rubbing snow in his face too.

"Ough," Susan said, wiping snow from her face, "We really ought to get back."

Still laughing they clambered back on the horses, who, had been standing quietly during the uproar and stopping a few stray snowballs.

~o*o~

Eustace knelt on the floor. His hands shook.

Bits of ice were before him, some shaped like triangles, some squares, some rectangles. His fingers stuck to them as he dragged them around. His blood smeared across them.

"Spell 'Eternity'" she whispered, "Spell 'Eternity' and you shall go free."

Desperately, he tried, he must use all the pieces, none must overlap. He must spell 'eternity'. He would go free. His eyes smarted, his eyeballs felt frozen.

His fingers were beyond feeling and the tips were turning white. The pieces hung from them, then dropped. They were forming a shape, not a word. He leaned closer as the last piece fell into place.

It was a lion.

He saw the four legs, the tail, the mane. He wept, but his tears were frozen. With one numbed hand, he shattered the picture. He could not spell 'eternity'.


	7. Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night

* * *

><p>"Masquerade! Paper faces on parade…Hide your face, so the world will never find you! … Every face a different shade...there's another mask behind you!…Fool and king...Trace of rouge. Face of beast."<p>

~ 'Masquerade,' _The Phantom of the Opera,_ Andrew Lloyd Webber

* * *

><p>When they arrived in the courtyard of Cair Anvard and swung off their horses, Deidre was waiting for them, laughing and nearly bursting with excitement.<p>

"What on earth has happened?" Lucy cried, running to her. Smiling, Susan followed at a more sedate pace.

"You'll find out," Deidre said, taking Lucy hand and dragging her inside.

"Today," she declared, as she ascended the stairs, "Is Twelfth Night!"

"Well, yes, I _know_ that." Lucy said.

"Tonight is the night of the masque." Deidre said.

"The what?" Lucy asked.

"It's a masquerade ball!" Susan exclaimed, opening the door of Deidre's apartments.

"It's the biggest ball of Christmas," Deidre added.

"A masquerade?" Lucy exclaimed, "Does that mean we get to dress up?"

"It does," Deidre said, laughing, "I hope you don't mind, but I've taken the liberty of choosing your costumes."

~o*o~

Lucy stared at herself in the mirror and realized with a shock that she didn't even recognize herself. She had been disguised as a bluebird. The dress, she decided, must have taken Deidre hours to make. It was heavy blue brocade, embroidered with silver thread and accented with silver lace and feathers. A pair of wings were on her shoulders and a heavily decorated mask was in her hand, with elaborate beak. In the other hand she held a huge blue feathered fan. Her hair, she giggled to see it, had been coaxed into ringlets and powdered blue.

Her face didn't even look right. Her eyebrows had been blocked out and redrawn in high dark arches and her mouth was impossibly heart shaped and red. Dark lines curled from the corners of her eyes.

Laughing, she turned to look at Susan. Clyte was still painting her face.

Susan wore a splendid white dress scrolled with silver embroidery. Her hair had been powdered white, her face painted with white makeup. She too had wings on her back.

"I don't think I really look much like a swan," Susan said, staring at herself.

"Oh yes you do!" Lucy said, jumping up in the air.

"Are you trying to fly, bluebird?" Susan asked.

A knock came at the door and Deidre entered. Susan and Lucy both turned to look at her.

Deidre was a peacock. She wore a dress of green and blue and a fan of peacock feathers had been fixed to the back of her dress and quavered above her head. She held up her mask and eyed them through it.

"Why," she said, "I do believe two birds have flown through the window."

"And another has come to join them," Susan said, smiling, "the costumes are simply splendid. Thank you so much!"

"You _look_ splendid," Deidre replied. "Shall we proceed to the great hall?"

"Of course," Susan said standing and attempting not to trip on her voluminous skirt.

Lucy was nervous. Nervous and terribly excited. Everybody would be in costume. She wondered how Edmund and Peter would look. The walk down the hallways seemed too long and she could hardly contain her laughter.

"We look so funny!" Lucy cried happily.

"I think we look uncommonly nice," Susan said. "They are _such_ lovely dresses."

They turned another corner and there before them the great oaken doors of the great hall stood open. The doormen bowed, smiling and they smiled back as they swept into the room.

"How lovely!" Lucy cried.

Lovely indeed.

The great hall had been decorated for the past eleven days with evergreen, holly, mistletoe, bells, garlands – every beautiful thing. The Yule log still burned in the massive fireplace and the place was lit by the flickering light of the chandeliers.

It was a blaze of color. Everyone was brilliantly dressed as every conceivable thing. There were birds, horses, cats, mermaids and some things that didn't seem to be anything in particular. The gowns were decorated with cascades of gold and silver lace, feathers, embroidery. The clothes of the men were no less rich.

"Your ladyships."

They turned to see someone bow to them. He was dressed in red and white alternating on each side. He wore a funny little hat with bells and there were bells on the toes of his curling shoes. He had a monkey on his shoulder.

"Your lordship?" Deidre said. "Do we know you?"

Grinning, the man removed his mask and bowed again.

"Lord Peridan!" they all exclaimed at once. Lucy couldn't help but laugh. The solemn Lord Peridan dressed as a jester? What a joke!

~o*o~

Edmund rather liked it.

He could stare at people from behind his mask and no one would ever know he was looking at them. The only part he didn't like was the makeup. It was silly and made him look ridiculous...especially the powdering the hair red part.

He kept his eyes peeled for Susan and Lucy, but he hadn't spotted them yet. Peter stood beside him and looked…remarkable. Most of the costumes were rather stunning. The only person, he speculated, who wasn't in costume was Martin. He had been given a mask by Flavis, but Martin seemed to have forgotten its existence.

"Good evening, King Edmund."

Edmund looked down to see Treve sitting on the floor in front of him.

"Hullo," Edmund said.

"You don't look at _all_ like a fox," Treve informed him with dissatisfaction.

"You knew I was one," Edmund said, smiling behind his mask.

"Hullo Treve," Peter said.

Treve looked up at him thoughtfully, "I haven't even a faint idea of what you are supposed to be."

Peter laughed and pulled off his mask.

"I'm supposed to be a lion…do you like the hair?"

Treve's jaw dropped. Peter's hair had been powdered with some sort of gold metallic stuff.

"You look…interesting."

"Quite," Peter pulled his mask back on.

Ahead of them the crowd parted and a little girl dressed all in blue galloped up to them.

"_There _you are!" she exclaimed, "I've been looking everywhere for you! You both look simply wonderful! Do you like _my _costume?"

"You look very pretty," Peter said, smiling. "Where's Susan?"

"She's over there with Deidre."

"Well if I knew where that was I'd have spotted her by now."

"Right there."

Lucy pointed. She could just see Susan, looking beautiful in a cloud of white brocade and feathers.

Peter whistled. "What did they do to her hair?"

"It's not as bad as what they did to yours," Lucy giggled.

"Don't make me feel like more of an idiot then I am," Peter said.

Lucy laughed. "Do you know who everybody is?"

"I don't recognize a soul," Peter said.

"I do," said Edmund. "That chap over there with the great brown horse head is Lord Dar, you know, one of King Lune's brothers. And that one with the white horse head is Lord Darrin."

Lucy looked. They both looked remarkably funny. She broke into laughter.

"They both have tails!"

Strains of music had begun and slowly everybody formed themselves in two long lines, facing each other.

"I think I'll stand here and watch." Peter said.

"Somebody's got to dance with me," Lucy said, grabbing Edmund's hand and dragging him to the end of the line, "Will you?"

"No, I won't," Edmund said, taking his place.

Lucy didn't really know how to dance and neither did Edmund, but after dancing for ten nights they knew the general direction to walk and there were plenty of helpful people to shout advice.

"Someday I'll learn this very well," Lucy said, swinging around with Lord Darrin and nearly stepping on his toe.

"I think you're doing well," he replied earnestly, "_I _never could dance. I always walked into people and knocked them down."

Lucy laughed and swung down the line.

"Hello again," Lord Peridan said, twirling her around.

"_Why _did you pick _that_ costume?" Lucy asked wonderingly.

"I decided on the thing that would become me the least," Lord Peridan said.

Lord Dar was next. He was very tall. Neither of them really looked at all like their brother the king.

"Hello!" she said cheerfully.

"Hello!" he replied.

Then she was back with Edmund and they were marching down the center of the line to the other end.

"Where is King Lune, anyway?" Lucy asked.

~o*o~

King Lune was on the dais with Susan and Deidre.

Deidre didn't really want to dance and Susan had been too shy to accept the many offers she received.

"It's rather embarrassing," she said sadly.

"I hope you'll dance before the evening is through," Deidre said, glancing at her, "With somebody other than your brothers. There are plenty of nice people, there's Peridan, Dar, Darrin, Lord Bar doesn't bite, there's Lord Ron and Ronnin…"

"I suppose," Susan said.

King Lune had one of the nicest costumes of all. He had donned a great white beard and was dressed in robes of scarlet. As he said himself, no Christmas gathering is complete without Father Christmas.

The dancing went on, whirling colors and beautiful music. Lucy danced every dance, though not with Edmund. Edmund had dropped to the sidelines near the orchestra. Susan at last danced. Peter led her onto the floor and managed to stumble through a dance after her.

At last, the dancing was over for a time and the servants carried in the tables and chairs and everyone found a place. Susan sat between Deidre and Peter. Lucy sat between Dar and Darrin and Edmund sat with Peridan at the end.

Masks were taken off and everybody shouted with laughter as they recognized everybody else. Then there was silence. King Lune had stood.

An enormous pie on a cart had been wheeled into the Great Hall. With a great show, King Lune walked down the dais and stood looking at it with hungry eyes. One of the maids handed him a knife and he held it aloft. Everybody leaned forward.

The pie was beautiful. It was baked to a lovely golden brown and Susan wondered how there could possibly exist an oven that big.

Slowly, King Lune brought the knife down.

They had all expected him to stab the thing, but instead, he began to gingerly cut a slice. Everyone leaned forward a little more.

Suddenly, the crust lifted into the air and a mass of birds throbbed from under it. They landed everywhere; on heads, on the floor, on the table…everywhere. And they began to sing, brilliant singing. Lucy recognized Chibb as one of them, a little ball of fluff still hovering in the air.

The birds were at the very height of their song when it began to snow. Susan stared, shocked, as it spiraled through the air and settled in drifts everywhere. Everyone sat, awestruck by the beauty of it.

"Why…why, it's paper!" Susan whispered.

Deidre nodded, smiling.

The singing began to slow. The paper snow stopped and the spell was broken. The room erupted into applause, a sound like rushing water.

The maids came forward and swept the paper aside. Then the real food entered.

There was everything you could imagine. Hams, venison, pork, sausages; all in different sorts of sauces. Pyramids of fruit, huge pastries designed to look like ships, castles, animals and people. There was wine and cider and eggnog, there was mead and wassail. There was roasted fowl, all put back in their skins and gracing the table just as they had graced the garden in life.

While they ate, a theater company began to set up their props are the far end of the great hall. They erected trees and a house and even made it seem that a stream was running across the floor. At last, they presented their play.

It was a delightful thing indeed. No one could stop laughing.

There were at least three different plots that all interwound in the end. There were fairies and lovesick couples and not so lovesick couples and magic love flowers that got the lovesick couples mixed up. At last, it was ironed out in the end and the not so lovesick couple was properly lovesick.

~o*o~

Edmund had probably spent his whole time revolving between Lord Peridan and the musicians set up on the sidelines. He had always been fascinated by fiddles and he never tired of watching the fiddlers play.

It was with some shyness he finally asked if it was hard to play one. Within five minutes, he was sitting in a chair with a fiddle under his chin and all the fiddlers watching eagerly while he attempted to pick out 'Twinkle, twinkle little star'.

Peter spent a good deal of his time talking to Lord Darrin. Lord Darrin was a good deal younger then King Lune or Lord Dar. In fact, he was only a few months older then Peter himself. They spoke on horses for a while; mostly sparked off by the horse head Lord Darrin wore on his head. Darrin was a great horse lover and Peter rather felt that he was going to be too.

Susan found herself talking to Lord Dar. He had discovered that Susan didn't know the constellations and he endeavored to tell her of them. Susan thought they were lovely. There was a Ship and a Bear and the Lion had the North Star in his paw.

"It always reminds us," Lord Dar said with gravity, "That Aslan is our direction."

Lucy was feeling decidedly ill and she couldn't seem to walk straight. She sat down hard in a chair and Deidre looked into her face.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you were drunk," Deidre declared with finality.

"I only had eggnog," Lucy's world was decidedly spinning.

"Oh my poor child," Deidre said. "Didn't you know eggnog is more than half rum?"

~o*o~

Lucy wasn't the only person who felt a bit tipsy. Peter had the unhappy consequence of having a whole glass of red wine dumped down the front of his beautiful golden velvet doublet by a girl who was trying to flutter her eyelashes at him.

He stared down himself in disgust, "I think I'll go change."

"That would probably be a good idea," Darrin agreed.

* * *

><p>AN: We've tried to put the feeling of the feast into this chapter.

Lucy and the Eggnog...Narnia and surrounds would have made eggnog in the old way and children would also drink it. In the Middle Ages everyone drank alcohol.


	8. Night Terror

Night Terror

* * *

><p>"…True is false. Who is who? Curl of lip. Swirl of gown. Masquerade! Seething shadows, breathing lies. Masquerade…Run and hide -but a face will still pursue you."<p>

~ 'Masquerade,' _The Phantom of the Opera,_ Andrew Lloyd Webber

* * *

><p>~o*o~<p>

Peter made it to his room without mishap. He was afraid the girl would follow him, but he was half pleased and half sorry to see that she had fainted…or at least pretended to.

Somehow, he managed to find another doublet that would go reasonably well with his costume, then went back into the hallway. He started as the flames of the candle in the sconces flickered. A huge dark shadow was coming down the hallway.

Peter turned towards the shadow as a man appeared around the corner, looking half sinister in his domino costume. One half of his face was white, the other black, and his eyes glittered strangely in the flickering light.

"Lord Peridan," Peter said.

The latter did not answer, but in one swift motion, drew a long bladed knife that flashed golden.

Shocked, Peter took a step backwards and stumbled as Lord Peridan leaped for him. Peter was aware of the flash of a knife blade and he ducked aside avoiding the blow. He groped at his side where Rhindon usually hung, but remembered that he had left it at the end of his bed. Then in a flash, he remembered the dagger King Lune had given him and ripped it out of his boot. He felt the sting of Peridan's blade on his back as he drove his own home.

Peridan's body crumpled to the floor. Peter stepped back as a black puddle stretched across the flagstones. The others!

Peter turned and ran.

~o*o~

Susan stood alone, her back against a column. Lord Dar had gone to get her some punch because she was feeling rather hot. It would take him awhile to get back, she thought, navigating through that crowded room…and there was no north star for a guide in there.

Susan looked up to see Lord Dar returning. He had put the brown horse head back on and she was mildly surprise to see that he wasn't bringing any punch.

Silently, he came to stand next to her, half in the shadows.

"Is the punch gone?" Susan asked, "Or is the crowd too thick?"

Lord Dar did not reply and Susan turned to look at him. He was gone.

The next moment, a strong hand clamped over her mouth and dragged her backwards. She kicked, but it was no use. She saw the brown horse head hovering over her. Lord Dar? But…!

He opened a side door and suddenly they were both outside in the freezing air. The long line of yellow light from the door looked very stark on the shadowed snow.

Suddenly Lord Dar moaned and fell backwards, dragging her with him. Peter was above her, pulling her up.

"Are you all right? Susan!"

She nodded dumbly, "Your hands are bloody."

"Where are Lucy and Edmund?" Peter demanded, wiping his hands on his doublet.

Susan opened her mouth to answer, then an earth-shattering scream echoed through the air.

For one moment, Peter thought it was coming from her, but he saw in a moment it didn't. He grabbed her hand and dragged her back through the door.

Somebody else was screaming and there were shouts. Then he saw Lucy standing a few feet away, her eyes as wide as saucers, a bloody gash on her shoulder. Edmund was kneeling on the floor next to the body of Lord Darrin. The white horse head was still covering his face. There was a crash as King Lune vaulted over the table on the dais, scattering the pyramid of fruit.

"Darrin!" King Lune cried.

Peter dropped Susan's hand and leapt forward. Everything became vividly clear to him and his heart tightened, half with relief and half with fear. Just about to leap on Edmund from behind was himself. The same lion mask, the same golden doublet.

Peter launched himself at the imposter and they rolled across the floor. The other Peter struck him a hard blow on the head and somebody kicked him in the back. Peter's head spun and somebody was hauling him to his feet. It was Lord Peridan.

Peter had lost his dagger, but he managed to wrestle Lord Peridan to the ground. The room was whirling. Something struck him on the head. The world went dark.

~o*o~

"I think he's coming 'round."

"Someday he is going to be quite a formidable fighter."

"If he lives that long."

Peter's head was roaring. He opened his eyes and faces crowded into his vision.

"Sorry I had to bump you on the head," King Lune said, looking at him, "but you were about to strangle Lord Peridan."

"He tried to murder me," Peter said, trying to sit up. "Someone has tried to murder all of us."

"Look," King Lune moved aside revealing the dead man who had been masquerading as Lord Darrin, "He's a Telmarine. The other was a Telmarine too. The one trying to be you got away."

Peter sat for a moment digesting this.

"Then there is one dressed as Lord Peridan in the hallway outside my door," Peter said.

"Four of them then," King Lune said heavily, "You're not safe, even here."

"How's Lucy?" Peter asked, slowly climbing to his feet.

"The scratch on her shoulder is not serious," King Lune replied, "Deidre and your sister are seeing to her now."

Peter looked around himself. Everyone stood around with concern written on their faces – Edmund, Flavis, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, Lord Dar, Chibb, Lord Darrin, Lord Peridan…

"I'm really sorry I tried to kill you," Peter said, offering a hand, "I didn't realize-"

"_I_ didn't realize. You were both dressed the same," Lord Peridan interrupted, taking his hand. "I'm afraid it's mostly my fault the last assassin got away."

"He really did get away, then?" Peter asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," King Lune said, "Martin is conducting a search of the castle, but I doubt the fellow will be found – the villain…deserves to be hanged."

"What happened before I arrived?" Peter asked, "I came as quickly as I could after that chap attacked me in the hallway."

"Someone disguised as Lord Darrin - " Edmund began.

"Two faced, scheming, good for nothing…" Lord Darrin muttered.

"Someone disguised as Lord Darrin," Edmund continued, "Pulled out a knife and tried to stab Lucy right in plain sight. She managed to duck and I finished him off with the dagger Father Christmas gave me," Edmund turned rather green, "After that you came charging in and tackled yourself and we didn't know which was which. I wish you'd taken the trouble to take off your mask beforehand."

Peter grinned and thumped Edmund in the shoulder, "Just glad everybody's in one piece."

~o*o~

After the assassination attempts, Martin, or other bodyguards were not far from the sides of the four children. Peter had four stitches in his back and Lucy got five in her shoulder, she was always proud to say she had one more than him.

As soon as Peter was well enough, Martin began to instruct him and Edmund in the martial arts.

Martin was a great teacher and he hardly knew it. He himself had taught the greatest swordsmen in the land, king Lune included. And only he would teach the future kings of Narnia.

They started with wooden cudgels and they learned quickly. Martin saw at once that they had a gift for this art. Swordsmanship is truly an art; it is not blundering or sheer luck, but experience and skill. One must be light on his feet, watching at all times, alert. It is a dance, a deadly dance and when they stopped using wooden clubs and used swords, they had to start using armor and shields as well. He pushed them beyond what they thought they could do and they learned their true strength.

But, they started with simple parries. Martin had the great advantage because he was taller so he had them fight with Lord Peridan while he looked on.

"I won't try to kill you this time," Lord Peridan had said. "Your highness,"

"And I won't try to kill you," Peter had said, "I'm not king."

Peter was, as Edmund put it, the most reluctant king in history. But, Edmund stopped teasing Peter about it when Peter pointed out that Edmund would be a king too.

Martin was increasingly thrilled with his students; he had never had better, though he never told them. Soon they were almost a match for Peridan. Peter was taller and stronger then Edmund and showed more skill, he was a true fighter, like a lion. Edmund was smaller, but was left-handed, giving him an advantage.

Martin didn't just teach them swordsmanship. He taught them how to use their bodies as weapons, as well. They could box, wrestle and throw and a man to the floor. They learned to fight on horseback and Lord Paladin taught them how to climb, as they were often see scaling the castle walls, much to the dismay of Susan and Deidre and delight of Lucy. Both the girls and the boys learned archery, and spear throwing from Lord Twang and learned knife throwing from Flavis.

Flavis taught them other things too. Every morning, Deidre saw to it that the four children were in his office. There he taught them history, geography, mathematics, grammar and even the old language that the people in Ettinsmoor spoke.


	9. Invenire

Invenire

Latin: To find or to discover

* * *

><p>"The trouble is, I don't have a microscope," Susan stood before the fire in her dressing gown, brushing her dripping hair.<p>

Peter was lounging in the window seat, staring out at the stars. Lucy was sitting on top of him and Edmund was on the floor polishing his dagger. They looked dark, flickered over by the light of the fire.

"I don't know if I can make them understand without one," Susan said, sitting down, her back to the fire, "I want them to see the little protozoa and amebas, then they'll believe me."

"Who are you trying to convince?" Peter asked distantly.

"Doctors," Susan said, "I want to invite them all from Cair Dirque and talk to them about infections and things like that."

"No microscopes," Edmund said thoughtfully.

"They haven't been invented yet," Susan said sadly.

"I'll find you one," Edmund said calmly.

They lapsed into silence, staring into the dancing flames as they boiled over the logs. They heard echoing footfalls in the hallway and a nightingale trilled outside the window.

Far in the distance, they could hear panpipes drifting over the night winds. Peter turned his head and saw the distant lights of Cair Dirque.

"The recruits have been pouring in," he said absently.

There was silence.

"You know, I've been thinking," Lucy said, breaking the silence. "Edmund never had his birthday."

"What do you mean, Lucy?" Susan looked up at her.

"Well if you think about it, we came to Narnia on September sixteenth in our world, when we arrived it was December something here," Lucy said, "Edmund's birthday is September twenty-eighth, so he never had his birthday!"

"You never did, Edmund!" Susan exclaimed, "you're fourteen already!"

"I wonder why that never occurred to any of you before," Edmund said dryly.

Lucy grabbed the closest thing available, which happened to be an embroidered pillow, and threw it at his head, "Well aren't you glad I thought of it?" she exclaimed.

"We like throwing things today, don't we," Edmund said throwing it back.

"Mmff," Peter said as it hit him in the face.

Lucy giggled, then froze and looked at Susan wide eyed, "I'm going to be ten in April!"

"We're getting very big, aren't we," Peter said and bounced her; she squealed and pushed the pillow more firmly on his face.

"Ooof," Peter said.

"And Peter's going to be eighteen in July," Lucy continued, "And Susan's going to be sixteen in February."

"An old lady," Peter said philosophically.

"Oh quiet," Susan laughed. "You're one to talk!"

~o*o~

He was a glass blower and his specialty was lenses for spectacles. It was his pride, his joy and his hobby. His name was Frank, after the first king of Narnia and his last name was Hook.

His shop was small, dusty and smelled of glass and iron. Snow had piled up on the windows and he hadn't bothered to dust it off. He was too busy grinding lenses.

He put two new lenses on the counter and looked at them as they sparkled in the dull, gray light. A pair of frames had come in from the blacksmith's shop and he set them on the counter next to the lenses, very strong and black they looked.

A cold gust of wind and a flurry of snow blew through the shop as the door opened. The bell tinkled and there was a murmur of voices, then the door slammed and he looked up.

A boy stood before him, not more than twelve. He was a well-dressed, distinguished boy; he had piercing blue eyes that seemed to see right through one.

"Oh…hello," Frank said, looking at the boy over the rim of his spectacles.

"Hello," the boy said. "I'm looking for a microscope."

"A…microscope…" Frank said absently. "I don't believe I have any, try the butcher's, they have most everything…oh," he looked up, "I'm sorry. Now...what's a microscope?"

The boy smiled and it changed his whole demeanor.

"It's something that magnifies things," the boy said, "My sister needs it."

"Oh," Frank said, "I'm very sorry, but I don't have one."

"That's all right," the boy said, "you see, it hasn't been invented yet."

"Oh really?" Frank whipped his spectacles off, "perhaps I should invent it, then, do you know what it's going to look like?"

The boy took up the two lenses on the counter, "Look," he held them, one over another, "See how they magnify the wood?"

"By the lion's mane!" Frank peered through them, "They do! Perhaps thicker lenses would magnify even more!"

"Precisely." The boy said, "I want you to make something that magnifies very tiny things."

"Yes…" Frank turned around and walked into his workroom. He found the two thickest lenses and brought them out.

"These work even better," he said, looking through them.

"When you've invented a microscope bring it to Cair Anvard." The boy said. "Tell them that Lord Edmund is expecting you."

"Certainly, certainly." Frank said absently.

~o*o~

"So," Edmund said, rolling into bed. "I've all but found a microscope for Susan."

"Hm." Peter said, ingeniously.

"Chap named Hook, Frank Hook." Edmund said, "Very odd soul."

There was silence.

"Peter?"

"Hm?"

"You know Lord Bar, King Lune's lord chancellor?"

"Hm."

"There's something strange about him."

"Hm."

"He's not to be trusted, honestly."

Peter cleared his throat, "Maybe you should tell the king."

"I told him."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing much yet."

"Maybe you should tell him again."

"I think Lord Bar is not to be trusted."

"You just told me that, I said you should tell the king."

"I'm telling the king!"

"Edmund," Peter said very slowly, "I'm not the king."

"You are."

"I beg to differ."

"So do I."

"You're going to be a king too."

"You're going to be _High _King."

"Not."

"Are."

"How do you know?"

"Because I do."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

~o*o~

"Now," Susan said, standing up, from where she sat between Peter and Edmund, "I've called you all here today to talk about bacteria."

The various doctors in the room looked at each other.

"My brother Edmund has found a very interesting device." Susan said, "It was made by Frank Hook. It is called a microscope. Through this microscope, you will see tiny animals not able to be seen with the unaided eye. Now, who would like to look through it first?"

Duval, the doctor, was pressed from behind by his companions and found himself standing in front of Susan.

"You're first then," she said smiling. She gestured to the strange looking device on the table. It looked like a telescope, only backwards and set in a tripod base. A candle flickered in front of it and a mirror set in the stand was turned just so.

"Look through the eyepiece and keep in mind that what you are looking at is regular pond water."

Cautiously Duval put his eye to the eyepiece, "Aslan's mane!" he exclaimed and leapt back. Then he came forward and looked through the eyepiece again, "You mean to say that those little animals live in the water?"

"Yes," Susan said, "That's why you should always boil water before you drink it. It kills the little animals."

By that time, the other doctors were lined up, waiting to look through the microscope. One by one, they looked through it and exclaimed like little boys.

"It is little animals, similar to the ones you have just seen, that cause infection," Susan said. "In order to avoid them, you must make sure that all your instruments have been boiled in water before you use them, use only very clean bandages and always wash your hands before you examine a patient."

It was in this manner that Susan founded the doctor's club. They met every week and learned about medicine in a way none of them had ever known before. Susan learned too, Narnia and Archenland had many cures, plants and techniques that don't exist in our world.

Together they developed a wagon that could be used as a rolling hospital. Edmund called it the 'chuck wagon' because it looked like a chuck wagon from the American Wild West, right down to the cupboard in the back.


	10. Incipere

Incipere

Latin: To begin

* * *

><p>"<em>The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard."<em>

~ Psalm 19:1-3

* * *

><p>~o*o~<p>

"The report from the spy, Loki, has just come in," Martin said, "There are some very important issues you might like to address."

Flavis picked up the letter and cleared his throat, "Greetings from Loki and Eustace. Very interesting news. There is an Archenlander in the Witch's court at this moment, his name is Lord Bar…"

"I _told_ you!" Edmund exclaimed.

"You did at that," Peter said, "Please continue, Flavis."

"Definite steps toward taking over Archenland are being taken and Calormen is almost certainly involved. Eustace advises you to arrest Lord Bar the moment he returns. Also the witch has dispatched a spy to Archenland. Its exact nature is unknown to me, but you must take careful precautions. Most respectfully yours, Loki."

"King Lune must be told at once," Peter said.

~o*o~

"Lord Bar," King Lune said slowly. "Would he do such a dastardly thing?"

"Our information is from a very reliable source," Edmund said.

"Oh, I believe you," King Lune said, "It's just hard for me, you see, Bar and I grew up together."

~o*o~

"It's pretty good," Lucy said worriedly, holding it up.

"It's very good," Deidre said, "I'm impressed at how well you both have been progressing."

Susan ran her hand over their careful embroidery. It was the flag of Narnia, a red lion, rampant on a green ground. It was completed; it was beautiful, though not perfect.

"Someday you'll learn that the most beautiful things in this world often aren't perfect." Deidre said. "Now, do you want to go to the library?"

"Why would we?" Susan asked.

"Well why not?" Deidre said. "You said your brother missed his birthday due to coming here, what's a better present then his own flag?"

"What would we find in the library?" Lucy asked.

"We have a book of symbols and what they mean," Deidre said. "You'll want to choose one of them."

They went to the library. It was a wonderful place; the walls were lined with bookcases, from floor to ceiling. A rolling ladder was attached to a bar on the ceiling so that people could even reach the top shelf. At the top of the ladder was a lady with an armload of books.

"That's our librarian," Deidre said as the lady came down the ladder.

"Hello dear," the librarian said, looking at Deidre, then turned to Susan and Lucy, "And who are you?"

"I'm Lucy and this is Susan," Lucy said.

"I've heard a lot about you," the librarian said, "I'm Carla."

"We're very pleased to meet you," Susan said.

"Well, so darlings," Carla said, "What can I do for you? I've a new book on agriculture just come in and I've some on…" she looked down at the books in her arms, "S_uits of Armor_, W_arts: a complete handbook_, _The History of Forks_, _Philosophy as Looked at by Stormrunner_ and one named _Calormene Culinary Delights_."

"Hmm," Deidre said, "I'm afraid we're not suffering from warts at this moment, but if we are, we will tell you. What we want is your book on coats of arms and symbolism."

Carla came down the ladder, dropped her books on the closest chair and dashed to the shelf. She ran her hand over the spines of the books until she pounced on one lengthy tome.

"Here it is!" she said, "_Symbolism: as seen on coats of arms, heraldry and other insignias, by Sir Enigma Hedgehog._"

She looked up and handed the book to Deidre, "there's an empty table over there, dear, and don't forget to pick up some candy on your way, that delightful little fox Treve just brought it."

They put the book on the table and poured over it. Lucy soon was tired of it and walked to the shelf to look at the books. She ran her hand over the titles… _Contemporary artists…Consequences of history…Company: proper table settings…_

"Bear," Susan murmured, "symbol of resurrection because of hibernation during the winter."

"Doesn't sound like him," Deidre said.

_Complete History of Narnia, by Stormrunner…Communication: history…_

"Bell," Susan murmured, "symbol of freedom."

"No." Deidre said.

Lucy reached out and pulled down _Complete History of Narnia, by Stormrunner._ She sat in one of the big armchairs with her prize and opened it. On the first page was a beautiful painting of the sun rising on five people.

"Deidre," She said suddenly, "How did Narnia begin?"

Deidre looked up, "We never told you, did we? Do you want me to tell you now?"

Lucy looked at Susan.

"I'd like to hear," Susan said. "If you don't mind."

"Well," Deidre said, "The very beginning of Narnia is filled with mystery. Our only available accounts are from the writings of King Frank, the first king of Narnia. Aslan did not create Man. Man came by magic from another world.

"In the first year of time, five people and a horse appeared in Narnia, before Narnia even existed. There was an evil sorcerer named Uncle Andrew, an even more evil witch named Jadis…"

"Jadis was here before the dawn of time?" Susan exclaimed. "How is it that she is still alive?"

"All in due time," Deidre laughed, "As I was saying, there was an evil witch named Jadis and there were two children both of whom are extremely mysterious. One was Lady Polly and the other was Lord Digory. The last was King Frank and of course his horse."

"His horse was there too?" Lucy asked, giggling.

"No one knows why." Deidre said. "They watched the first sunrise in Narnia. King Frank said later it was as if the stars themselves were singing. They were standing in the west on what is now the border between Telmar and Narnia. It was then that Aslan himself appeared. He sang the world into existence. He sang the grass and the trees; King Frank described the world as being _alive. _Not alive as you would usually think, but the ground was alive. When coins fell out of the Uncle Andrew's pocket they grew into trees and up in the west there is still a forest of gold and silver trees. A piece of metal that Jadis threw at Aslan grew into a very strange object, the very same lamppost that you yourselves saw when you first entered Narnia."

"I did wonder why there was a lamppost in the middle of a wood," Susan said. "It just wasn't practical."

"You _would _wonder," Deidre laughed, "Anyhow, Aslan created the Animals in the oddest manner. The Lord Digory at first thought the earth was boiling, but a few minutes later the bubbles burst and animals of all kinds climbed out of the earth."

"Were they all talking?" Lucy asked.

"No, not yet." Deidre said. "Aslan gathered all the animals in a circle about himself and picked two of every kind to be talking beasts. King Frank's horse was one of them."

"It was at this time," Deidre continued, "that Aslan sent the Lord Digory and the Lady Polly on a most extraordinary journey. He put wings on King Frank's horse and called him Fledge, then Lord Digory and Lady Polly mounted Fledge and flew away. Their destination was a garden on a tall, smooth green hill in the west. There, Lord Digory plucked an apple from a special tree; it was a tree of life. Anyone who ate of that tree would live forever. While he was there he was confronted by Jadis, no one knows what was said, but she ate one of the apples and tried to make him do the same. He would not, and carried the apple he had plucked back to Aslan."

"So that's why she's still alive." Susan said.

"Yes." Deidre said. "That's why she's still alive."

"If she'll live forever," Lucy said. "What's going to be the use of trying to kill her?"

"Only Aslan knows." Diedre said. "The Lord Digory and the Lady Polly returned with Fledge from that far away place. Lord Digory gave the apple to Aslan and Aslan had him plant it near the Lamppost. Aslan explained that since the Witch had eaten an apple against his will, the tree that would grow from the apple Digory had planted would be loathsome to her and it would be a protection, for she would never venture near Narnia while the tree grew."

"And the tree blew down a hundred years ago." Susan finished.

"Precisely," Deidre said. "And she invaded a hundred years ago…ninety nine years, actually, it will be a hundred years this spring."

"I've found the perfect symbol for Edmund!" Lucy exclaimed.

Deidre and Susan looked up and found that she had flipped to near the back of the book.

"Where you listening to anything I said?" Deidre asked, laughing.

"Of course!" Lucy said, "I was just looking here too."

"What did you find?" Deidre asked.

"Unicorn," Lucy said, "symbol of wisdom, calmness and a whole bunch of other things that are too long to read."

"But that's perfect!" Deidre exclaimed, "We'll embroider a unicorn on your brother's flag!"


	11. Teach to Learn

Teach to Learn

No one ever teaches well who wants to teach, or governs well who wants to govern. ~Plato

* * *

><p>~o*o~<p>

Eric fell into the gutter.

He didn't mean to, his sister Ellyn had thrown a snowball at him and he tried to duck…right into icy cold water.

"Hello boy!" a big voice sounded from over his head and a big hand lugged him out of the water.

Eric stood shivering on the road looking at a centaur with curly black hair. Behind him stood a chestnut centaur with his arms crossed.

"I'm Flavis," the black centaur said, "what's your name?"

"Eric?" Eric said.

"Don't ask me," Flavis said, "I don't know."

"Oh," Eric said, "I'm pleased to meet you."

"Do you know how to use a sword boy?" the chestnut centaur asked.

"His name is Eric, Martin," Flavis corrected him, "not 'boy' and why on earth would you ask him that?"

"Do you know how to use a sword?" Martin asked again, ignoring Flavis. Flavis kept smiling as if he was used to being ignored.

"No sir," Eric said, wide eyed.

"Perfect," Martin said, "come to Cair Anvard at three o' clock tomorrow…sharp. Say that Martin sent you and they'll let you in."

"What on earth, Martin?" Flavis asked, "What do you want him for?"

"Something to practice on," Martin said, "let's keep going."

"But," Flavis said, cantering after him, "practice what?"

"Sword."

"Isn't he a little young?" Flavis asked.

"They'll start him off with wooden swords first," Martin said.

"Who?" Flavis asked.

Martin answered him, but they were so far away that Eric couldn't hear them.

"Eric!" Ellen said staring at him, "did you hear what they said? Cair Anvard!"

"I know," Eric said, "why?"

"Something to do with swords," Ellen said, "Maybe you'll learn how to use a sword!"

"I wish father was still alive," Eric said, "you'll come with me?"

"I wasn't invited," Ellyn said.

"You've got to come," Eric said, "or else I'm not going."

~o*o~

"Oh," the centaur guard looked down at Eric, it was Ahearn, he was a black centaur, black hair, black skin.

"You're it? Martin told me to watch for you…I'll open the gate."

Eric looked over his shoulder at Ellyn and she smiled encouragingly, though it looked as if she didn't mean it.

Slowly the portcullis raised and Eric looked up at the mean edge of it as he passed under. He felt as if he were walking into the mouth of a great lion.

They reached the courtyard; it was filled with people going every which way and seemingly doing nothing.

"They'll be in the small courtyard," Ahearn said and led them dodging through the crowd to an open door. Through it was another courtyard, empty, except for two boys and centaur that Eric recognized as Martin.

"You're on your own now," Ahearn said, then grinned and cantered away.

The two boys were sitting on the edge of the fountain in the middle of the courtyard. They were wearing plain leather jerkins and looked quite like any boy from Anvard. The youngest one, Eric decided was probably his age. At their feet was a young fox that was in the act of telling a joke. Both boys burst out laughing and Martin looked on in stony silence.

"There's that centaur," Ellyn pointed out helpfully.

"Yes," Eric said, he squared his shoulders and marched over to Martin.

"There you are," Martin said looking at him, "you are late."

"Sorry," Eric said.

"You are," Martin turned to the boys, "Going to teach this boy how to use a sword."

"Why?" the bigger boy asked.

Eric winced, the centaur didn't look like the sort of person you say 'why' to.

"You never know anything really well until you can teach someone else what you know." Martin said with great stoicism.

Martin tossed the bigger boy a wooden practice sword and then gave another to Eric.

"Begin," Martin ordered.

The boy looked uncertainly at Martin, then at Eric.

"Well," he said, then dove headfirst into the basics of sword fighting.


	12. Requiem

Requiem

* * *

><p>"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her…She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life…Strength and honour are her clothing…She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness…Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her."<p>

~Proverbs 31:10-28

* * *

><p>~o*o~<p>

It was that night that King Lune threw a banquet.

Peter and Edmund were oblivious to the meaning of it, but Susan, Lucy and Deidre seemed to be skeaming and Emdund noticed. His fears were solidified when King Lune stood up and held his glass goblet aloft.

"A few months ago four children came into this land. Sadly one of them missed his fourteenth birthday. I declare a toast to Lord Edmund, may he have many more birthdays!"

King Lune drank the toast, then threw his goblet onto the floor and watched it shatter into a thousand sparking pieces.

The room was filled with cheering and Edmund turned red and tried to disapear. Then Susan and Lucy stood up, wispering to eatch other and unferling a banner. It was a beautiful banner, a royal blue ground and a white unicorn leaping across it.

Lucy steped forward, her hands clasped behind her back, "This unicorn symbolises wisdom, a proper banner for our just and noble brother."

Edmund would have gone completely beneth the table if Peter hadn't grabed him by his collar and made him stand. The room cheered again.

"Three cheers for Lord Edmund!" Peridan yelled, "hip hip horray!"

Edmund looked around widly, Peter was grinning.

"Hip hip horray!"

Susan was laughing.

"Hip hip horray!"

Lucy was so happy she couldn't make a sound.

~o*o~

"Wasn't that wonderful?" Lucy asked after they sat down.

Susan didn't answer. She had her eyes fixed on Deidre, the queen's face was pale and her fork had dropped unnoticed on her plate.

Susan stood up, walked over to her and whispered something in her ear. Deidre nodded, stood up and she and Susan left the great hall quietly. The king looked worriedly after them.

"What happened?" Lucy said, poking Edmund who was sitting next to her.

"What happened what?" Edmund asked, braking off a conversation with a faun across from him.

"Susan and Deidre," Lucy said, "Why did they leave?"

"Oh," Edmund looked after them, "nothing."

"But they must be doing something!" Lucy said, tugging his sleeve as he restarted his conversation with the faun.

She got no reply so she sat staring down at her plate, wondering.

"Peter?" Lucy asked, over Susan's empty chair, "Where'd they go?"

"Nowhere in particular," Peter said, "I suppose."

"You're all keeping something from me!" Lucy exclaimed. "What is it?"

Peter didn't answer; he was discussing swords with Martin.

A half hour later Lucy could bear the suspense no longer and bounced up from her chair, colliding with Clyte.

"Whoops, sorry, milady!" Clyte exclaimed; "Lady Susan asks that you get her cordial and bring it to the queen's chamber as quickly as possible."

Lucy ran, the urgency in Clyte's voice drove her on. She flew up the stairs, her hair flying, her gown sweeping behind her, her little shoes pattering on the hard marble. The hallway their room was off was dark and she nearly missed the door. Then she found it and burst into the room.

She stopped in the middle of the room, where was that cordial? She was the only other person that knew and now she had forgotten. She bit her lip and suddenly remembered.

Quickly she grabbed it from under Susan's pillow and ran back down the hallway to the queen's apartments.

When she reached the door, she knew something terrible had happened. The door was open, a beam of golden light lay across the floor. A maid stood in the shadows, crying softly. Lucy took one look at her and darted into the room.

Deidre lay on the bed, her eyes were closed and her face was white. Her beautiful brown hair threw the light like silk. Susan knelt next to her with the queen's hand in hers.

Wordlessly Lucy held out the cordial, but Susan shook her head.

"No," she whispered, "It's too late."

Lucy stared down at Deidre's peaceful face. Those beautiful eyes would never open again, that mouth would never laugh. The tears blurred Lucy's eyes and she knelt next to Susan.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, "it was all my fault, if I'd only been able to find it sooner…"

"No," Susan said, "it's not your fault, she was gone so soon."

Suddenly from behind her came a plaintive sound, like the bleating of a lamb. Lucy blinked the tears from her eyes and looked around.

A maid stood holding a new baby. In the corner was another maid holding another baby.

"What?" Lucy gasped, "I didn't know! Twins?"

"Yes," Susan said, "twins, both boys…she made me promise I'd watch over them."

Lucy, on tiptoe went to look at them.

One was asleep, but the other one looked at her seriously. They had downy hair, that was almost colorless, and big blue eyes. They did, Lucy thought, look like miniatures of King Lune through and through, but they had a Deidre look to them too, especially the younger one. He certainly thought there was no time like the present.

The very thought made Lucy cry again.

~o*o~

A grave was dug in the old burying ground outside of Anvard.

The funeral procession wound its way through the streets and the whole population watched them go and mourned with them for the young Queen who had been so beautiful and kind. They remembered her well. They remembered her at her wedding; the joy in the king's eyes. They remembered the year of the plague, when she had risked her own life to bring heeling to the sick. They remembered her when she rode through the streets to accompany her husband on the hunt. They remembered how she had driven down this same road at this same time in a white carriage on her wedding day.

Now she was dead.

The hearse bearing her rolled forward over the muddy road. It had been covered with black roses and six black horses pulled it. Their steps seemed too quick and light. Behind the hearse rode the king with his two brothers. Behind them, rode the four children.

All wore black, all were silent. The only sound to be heard was the rumble of many horse hooves and the soft weeping of the people who watched them go. The only flash of color was the bouquet of white lilies Lucy clutched.

Warm wind lifted the girls veils and blew them streaming aside like ghosts. Spring had arrived and just when life seemed the brightest, darkness had come. The trees were just tinged with green. The fields were tinted with bluebells and crocuses.

Her gravesite was surrounded with flowers.

The coffin was lowered down and King Lune knelt to crumble a handful of brown earth on it.

Equus bowed his head, "Earth to earth,"

Lucy scattered her handful of lilies and stepped back.

"Ashes to ashes,"

King Lune's shoulders were bowed.

"Dust to dust,"

Susan squeezed her eyes shut and remembered Deidre's two motherless sons.

"In sure and certain hope of the Resurrection into eternal life," Equus finished, throwing his grey head back and looking up towards heaven.

~o*o~

The two princes were named Cor and Corin and a week after they were born Equus blessed them.

"A day will come," he said as he looked at Cor, "that this boy will save Archenland from the deadliest danger in which ever she lay."

King Lune's eyebrows shot up and he looked enormously pleased.

"What will the danger be?" Lord Bar asked, he was there, despite all of Peter's warnings.

Equus looked up, "no one is ever told a story that is not his own. It is not for you to know."

Lord Bar's dark face darkened.

* * *

><p>AN This is very hard; to let go of this wonderful character. I've always felt very badly about King Lune's wife's death, but now that she has a personality and I've gotten to know her, it's even worse.

On a happier (or maybe sadder) note, the next chapter is the last of this story. The next, and last, story of the trilogy covering _The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe _will be coming right up.


	13. A Thorn in the Flesh

A Thorn in the Flesh

* * *

><p>"How does he do it?" Lucy giggled.<p>

"What?" Susan asked.

"Corin, he has almost his whole fist in his mouth!" Lucy said, looking down at him.

They were sitting in the garden with Cor and Corin. It was late May and Susan had just turned sixteen. Corin looked up at them balefully and both Susan and Lucy burst into giggles. He was so funny, so impulsive. Cor was serious, infinitely serious, except when he smiled.

Suddenly a hand closed over Susan's mouth and a cold knife blade pricked her throat. With eyes wide she saw Lucy clutch Corin to herself as another man put a hand around her mouth. Susan tried to tell her to run, but it came out a strangled choke.

Suddenly something hit Susan in the head and darkness came.

~o*o~

"Susan!" someone had her shoulders.

She opened her eyes and saw Peter looking down at her, his face drawn with worry.

"Where's Cor?" she gasped, "where's Cor?"

"What do you mean!" Peter exclaimed.

"They took Cor!" Susan stared around herself, "where's Lucy?"

"I'm right here," Lucy's voice came from above her, "I'm all right."

"They took Cor!" Susan gasped again.

"_Who_ took Cor?" Peter asked.

~o*o~

A horde of foxes were dispatched to search the castle and when Cor was not found, a flock of eagles were sent out to search the surrounding countryside. It was not until an hour after the abduction that a dispatch rider arrived, bringing the news that Lord Bar and a group of horsemen were moving fast toward the seacoast.

King Lune assembled a party for pursuit and Peter and Edmund donated a squadron of centaurs and fauns as well as themselves.

"I will not hear of being refused," Peter said, as he mounted his horse, "It's the least we can do."

"Anyway," Edmund said, "Martin says it's good experience."

"Very well," King Lune said. "I will truly be glad of your company."

~o*o~

"But why would they steal him?" Lucy asked staring out the window as she watched the little army disappear into the distance.

"Calormen wants to take Archenland," Susan said as she dropped a stitch in her knitting, "Cor was going to save Archenland from a great catastrophe, so Lord Bar, in the pay of the Calormens, stole him."

"I still can't believe it happened," Lucy said looking down at Corin, sleeping peacefully in his cradle. Slowly a tear trickled down Lucy's nose and dripped off the end.

~o*o~

They arrived in Port Bowfin at three o' clock in the morning. The town was dark, but when the occupants of the lighthouse were questioned and it was confirmed that a galleon, of Calormene build, named the _Sphinx_, had put to sea two hours before.

Peter and Edmund had been given a room overlooking the harbor and they watched while maintenance crews loaded up the two dark hulks of King Lune's fastest galleons. An enormous amount of supplies had been piled up on the quay and disappeared into the ships. Peter fell asleep, but Edmund stayed at the window watching as the sky lightened, silhouetting the ships' masts and rigging. He realized that he had fallen asleep too only when an ocelot came to tell them that the ships were departing momentarily.

They went down the stairs and out onto the quay into the sea air. King Lune was waiting for them. They boarded the _Griffon_ and watched while the sailors on the _Unicorn _cast off and raised their jib. The galleon moved slowly out of the harbor, the wind billowing her sails. The _Griffon _followed a few boat lengths behind.

Edmund leaned on the rail and watched the oily water slip slowly by.

"What are you looking at?"

Edmund glanced up to see Peter beside him.

"Do you think we'll get him back?" Edmund asked.

"I don't know," Peter said. "I don't think King Lune thinks we will; we've gotten off so late."

Peter grabbed the rail as the _Griffon_ caught a cat's paw of wind and heeled over. Ahead of them the foresail of the _Unicorn _climbed slowly up the foremast and her wake lengthened. King Lune's head appeared at the top of the companionway and looked around until he saw them.

"We'll catch them up in a moment," King Lune said, walking to the rail. "The _Griffon _can easily outrun her. Have either of you ever been on a ship before?"

"A few times," Peter said. "We sailed with our uncle in his thirty foot Bermuda cutter."

King Lune looked blank.

"It's a kind of small ship in our world," Peter said hurriedly.

"Ready about!" the Captain's foghorn voice split the air and the sailor at the wheel put her hard to starboard. The boom swung overhead and the _Griffon_ heeled sharply to starboard. Both her main and fore had been set as well as her jib and staysail to balance her. She was of the lateen rig instead of the more traditional square rig. It made fast and maneuverable, capable of sailing very close to the wind. But she was small and not heavily armed.

King Lune stood looking over the bulwarks for a minute, then left them and walked to the quarter deck to talk to the Captain.

"I think," Peter said, watching him leave, "If the whole thing with Narnia works out, we'll have a go at a real gaff rig, it would be better."

"Topsails, too," Edmund said. "She would be considerably faster. What would you name her?"

"_Splendor __Hyaline_," Peter said thoughtfully.

"Where'd that come from?" Edmund asked skeptically.

"Lucy." Peter said.

"Since when did you and Lucy have heart to heart talk about Narnia's future navy?" Edmund asked.

"We didn't," Peter laughed. "Remember the little toy boat that father made her two years ago for her birthday?"

"Oh, I remember," Edmund said. "She named it _Splendor __Hyaline, _didn't she? I wonder if it means something. Hyaline, I mean."

"It means something to her."

"That's all that counts."

"Certainly." Peter said, then grinned, "I looked it up in the dictionary to see if it meant anything."

"Did it?"

Peter laughed again, "It's from Greek and it literally means something with a glass like appearance. In medicine it's a kind of shiny cartilage, it's the type you find at the end of bones. Don't tell her I found that out."

"Don't worry." It was Edmund's turn to laugh, "She must have been reading the index of Susan's medical book."

The _Griffon _overtook the _Unicorn_ with a bone in her teeth. The water churned under her forefoot as she drove into the swell. It curled past her smooth hull in a long wave, the light reflected off the lapping waves painting strange patterns on the white paint.

"There's a bit of motion, isn't there," Edmund said, grabbing a deadeye next to him.

"Yes," Peter said, "It doesn't bother you, does it?"

"Why should it?" Edmund asked. "We've been in worse in the channel. Remember the time we felt our way into Maldon Water in a fog?"

"Too well," Peter said. "I think father nearly had a heart attack."

The sun rose and they went below to eat breakfast. Halfway through, a school of dolphins was sighted and they lowered a dingy to see if they were talking. They were, and they said that the _Sphinx_ had sailed south, towards Calormen.

The _Unicorn_ came alongside for orders and King Lune called for every inch of canvas to be set. They fairly flew.

They sailed within sight of land. They had left Archenland behind and for as far as they could see, the land stretched a limitless desert. With the sun shining on it, it looked like burning gold and they could feel the heat of it, even across miles of cold blue water.

They did not see the _Sphinx _that day, or the next. It was on the morning of the third day that the lookout on the main top saw a sail.

King Lune, Peter and Edmund scaled the ratlines and viewed the sail through a heavy brass telescope King Lune had brought along. It was definitely the _Sphinx. _

"We'll have her by tomorrow." King Lune said, satisfied.

They ran on. The wind freshened and shifted in the night so they were running before it. In the morning, when Peter and Edmund came on deck they could see the _Sphinx _without the telescope.

"We'll board her today," King Lune said.

It was nine o' clock when the _Sphinx _came about and dove towards the coast. The _Unicorn _cut her off and the _Sphinx _crammed on sails and ran. They followed and the coastline opened, showing the river into which the _Sphinx _had tried sail.

Tashbaan, the capital of Calormen, was down the river.

King Lune ordered everyone to arm himself and they lined up on the ship's rail, watching the _Sphinx _as they followed her_._

"Were going to board her in a moment, Edmund." Peter said, staring out at the pennant of the _Sphinx, _"For heaven's sake, don't get yourself killed."

Edmund replied by pulling Peter under his shield. The _Sphinx_ loosed a sheet of arrows and they heard them rattling on the deck.

"Don't worry, Pete," Edmund said, looking down at the arrows stuck in his shield. "I'm going to be too busy making sure _you_ don't get killed."

Peter grinned and punched him in the shoulder.

They heard an arrow whistle overhead and they looked up to see Lord Twang hanging off the rigging, bow drawn, his tail just a puff behind him.

"What's he shooting at?" Edmund asked.

"Look," Peter said, taking hold of Edmund's arm as another arrow buzzed overhead. "He's shooting at the mainsheet."

"Smart move," Edmund said, "Do you think he can cut it?"

"_He_ thinks he can."

They could see the sheet was beginning to fray, but it was three arrows later before the yard gave a groan and crashed to the deck. Without her mainsail the _Sphinx _lost way and in the confusion that followed the _Gryphon _came alongside her and dropped a spiked plank on her deck. The next moment they were on her.

Edmund found that battle wasn't at all like he expected. The last moments before they boarded her, Peter told him to stick close and then they were in it. Edmund was attacked by a chap with a knife in his teeth and an evil looking nicked cutlass. It wasn't frightening, it wasn't even fast. The man slashed at him, but it seemed to be almost slow motion and Edmund disarmed him without thinking.

Edmund stuck close to Peter, each of them trusting the other to protect his back. They fought their way to the foremast. Peter cut the sheet with a slash of Rhindon and they watched the foresail come rattling down. It made the battle easier for everyone with the ship moving only under her jib. The _Gryphon _hove-to and the _Unicorn _came alongside and added her men to the ranks.

Lord Bar had rallied his men around him and they were fighting from the poop deck, but the battle was lost and they knew it. It finally ended when Twang picked Lord Bar off with an arrow.

~o*o~

"He isn't anywhere." Peter said bluntly.

King Lune bowed his head.

Peter herded Edmund out the door of the cabin and they slowly ascended the companionway.

"I could have told you that," Edmund said slowly.

"What?" Peter asked.

"That Cor would be missing."

"Hm?"

"One of the ships boats is missing. The ropes that were lashing her down are cut, signifying hast." Edmund said, "Lastly Cor isn't here."

"You always were smart," Peter said, squeezing Edmund's shoulder. "If you are right, which you are, then he's in Calormen now or will be soon. We'll never see him again."

~o*o~

They sailed along the coast, looking for the ship's boat, if indeed that was what had happened.

Three Calormen galleons assaulted them and they were forced to leave.

When they reached Cair Anvard again, King Lune sent an embassy to the Tisroc of Calormen to ask about Cor. The Tisroc was very understanding and sympathetic, but declared that he was oblivious to the actions of Lord Bar.

"Lying, of course," King Lune said. "We had plenty of information on Lord Bar to prove it."

The disappearance of Cor remained a painful remembrance among King Lune and the four children and a great mystery among the people of Archenland.

* * *

><p>The End...for now.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>An Author's Note:<strong>

**Well...that's it folks, that's the end...of this bit. The next story, _The Lion_, is the last leg of the trilogy covering the _Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. _They'll _finally_ end up back in Narnia like they're supposed to..._and_ meet Aslan.**

**I hope you've enjoyed reading this thing as much as I have writing it. It's certainly been fun, but (in my opinion) it's not a terribly good piece of writing. (I did write a good hunk of it when i was a lot younger...so if you thought it was kinda stilted...)**

**Anyhow, Happy reading and please, please read _The Lion. _Rose'll have to put it on, I haven't the faintest...**

**Thanks for your comments!**

**~Psyche**


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